Select Committee on Crossrail Bill Minutes of Evidence


Examination of Witnesses (Questions 14540 - 14559)

  14540. In terms of capacity we have been talking about "paths", is paths an effective way of defining capacity for us?

   (Mr Garratt) I think so, yes, although one has to remember looking into the future that the working timetable is in fact built up incrementally, that is when an operator or a customer wants an extra path what happens is the procedure is to see if an extra path can be found in what is usually known as white space amongst all the other trains and, therefore, you can find extra paths in the working timetable up to a point.

  14541. The Committee has had explanations already of the rules of the plan and how those matters impact on looking at capacity.

   (Mr Garratt) Yes.

  14542. Crossrail services are planned to be more frequent than other services, is that right?

   (Mr Garratt) Yes.

  14543. What is the effect in terms of the gaps available on the network with regard to pathing and capacity?

   (Mr Garratt) The particular problem for rail freight is that it moves along what are generally passenger routes and then has to turn off and on to these routes either to cross, as I say, at Stratford on to the North London Line or to access terminals over Great Western, so it is crossing on the flat between other trains. If the frequency of other trains increases the challenge of finding adequate gaps increases as well. The Crossrail services being more frequent, the challenge is that much greater.

  14544. That is an impact in terms of gaining access to terminals. What happens in terms of having higher frequency services running at different speeds and the effect of those on other services?

   (Mr Garratt) Clearly, where the routes are shared that also squeezes out rail freight capacity. For example, any rail freight trains on Great Western using the current electric lines, the slow passenger lines, would suffer as well.

  14545. On Day 48, that is Tuesday of this week, Mr Watson at paragraph 13718, among other things, told the Committee: "I have already mentioned the need to be absolutely clear about access to terminals on the Great Western and to make absolutely certain it is possible to get those freight trains in and out without impacting on the Crossrail service." Do you agree with that in terms of the importance of access?

   (Mr Garratt) Yes, absolutely.

  14546. Let us have figure 11, please.[37] What is this intended to communicate to us, please, Mr Garratt?

  (Mr Garratt) It is intended to communicate the national consequence and role of the Crossrail route. What this is showing is all those trains on a daily basis which currently pass along the Crossrail route but obviously have origins and destinations elsewhere. You can see that Crossrail is having an impact in East Anglia, in Scotland, in South Wales, over a very wide area.

  14547. One of the things Mr Watson told the Committee on Tuesday at 13858 in answer to a question from Mr George, was " . . . in due course it is going to be necessary, is it not, to look at a wider network in order to test the work you have done so far and ensure that it is robust?" and Mr Watson said: "And that is very much the case for freight services where, as the freight operators have reminded the Working Group frequently, just because a path works on a little bit of the GE it does not mean it works through Manchester or into Glasgow." Is that correct?

   (Mr Garratt) That is correct, yes.

  14548. In terms of impacts on the network, is that figure informing us about how far those impacts might spread?

   (Mr Garratt) Absolutely.

  14549. The most critical paths on the Crossrail network for freight, where are they?

   (Mr Garratt) The most critical stretch is probably at Forest Gate.

  14550. Why?

   (Mr Garratt) The forecast volume of traffic is likely to grow more considerably there and there is conflict with high frequency Crossrail services being proposed crossing on and off the Great Eastern.

  14551. Let us go back to your figure 8.[38] You have told us what this is showing in terms of the busiest days for 2004, 2014 and 2030, is that right?

  (Mr Garratt) Correct.

  14552. The forecast growth rates in train movements to 2030, what are they, please, at Forest Gate and east of West Drayton?

   (Mr Garratt) The compound annual growth rate from 2015 to 2030 is 3.9% a year for the Great Eastern at Forest Gate and, I think, 1.9% growth rate on the Great Western.

  14553. Realistic growth rates or fantastically optimistic? How would you put it, please?

   (Mr Garratt) Particularly given the conversation we have just been having these seem to me to be relatively cautious growth rates.

  14554. In terms of any expectation that they might actually occur?

   (Mr Garratt) I think there is a very good expectation of their occurring because if we look at the performance of the rail freight industry over the last 11 years since privatisation the compound growth rate nationally has been 4.8% a year, so these are forecasts which assume a decline in the growth of rail freight.

  14555. What do you say about the position as far as Crossrail is concerned and the importance or otherwise of Crossrail respecting those growth rates and providing the ability for them to occur?

   (Mr Garratt) I would say the normal process in any such assessment, any new infrastructure development, is to take into account both organic or underlying growth and growth as a consequence of committed schemes before considering the impact of its own traffic development.

  14556. Does the Department for Transport give us any means of assessing the importance or value in environmental terms of rail freight as opposed to road freight?

   (Mr Garratt) Yes. There is a measure which was developed a few years ago, initially by the Strategic Rail Authority and adopted by the DfT which is known as sensitive lorry miles.

  14557. How does that work?

   (Mr Garratt) Basically the environmental impact of an HGV on a range of different road types is quantified according to emissions, noise, accidents and so forth, so that one can then determine the environmental cost of that road movement.

  14558. Have you been able to undertake any sort of exercise here which would give the Committee an indication of the sort of values that arise from applying that methodology?

   (Mr Garratt) I have. We applied that methodology, we can do that through the GB freight model, and the figure we arrived at at 2030 traffic levels was a cost of £168 million per annum in terms of sensitive lorry miles. That is the value at which sensitive lorry miles would measure the transfer of all that rail freight along the Crossrail corridor on to road.

  14559. Let us have your figure 13 and see whether or not we can make that clear.[39] First of all, this is an exercise which is undertaken using DfT methodology, is that correct?

  (Mr Garratt) That is right.


37   Committee Ref: A166, Figure 11: Rail freight trains passing along Crossrail corridor (LINEWD-33005-012). Back

38   Committee Ref: A166, Figure 8: Forecast path utilisation 2030 (LINEWD-33005-009). Back

39   Committee Ref: A166, Figure 13: The environmental value of rail freight traffic on the Crossrail corridor (LINEWD-33005-014). Back


 
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