Examination of Witnesses (Questions 15520
- 15539)
15520. Sir, the ports which I represent find
that particularly surprising in this respect. As you will hear
in a moment or two, very substantial inquiries have been conducted
in relation to both Felixstowe and into a prospective new container
terminal, the Harwich International Container Terminal, which
involves substantial work relating to railways which does not
appear to have been taken into account in the exercise which Crossrail
have undertaken, despite it being put before the Secretary of
State and approved by him. We say, sir, there is in fact a double
vice in the assessment of Crossrail trains in which they have
been deficient—and you have had evidence about that already
and it appears in large measure to be accepted—namely, that
they have not taken certain matters into account. Furthermore,
the assessment has been largely conducted for the wrong time,
and, further, it ought to be noted that the exercise which has
been undertaken does not appear to have taken into account, as
far as a timetabling exercise is concerned, the users of the railways.
15521. One sees that the railway operating companies
and the freight operating companies have been involved but that
is not the same as asking those who use it—namely, in this
instance, the ports—what the consequences are. The consequence
which is apparent from the matters as presently supposed, is that
Crossrail will bear to the ill upon the movement of freight. The
movement of freight is in the national interest. The displacement
of freight carries both environmental and economic consequences
which ought to be recognised. We are saying that Crossrail is
imposing, and undoubtedly imposing, a burden upon the railway
network and that that burden ought to be met accordingly; because,
if they are to have the benefit of the railway network, they ought
properly to take the burden.
15522. Having said that, can I call Mr Harston
before the Committee.
Mr Andrew Harston, Sworn
Examined by Mr Straker
15523. Mr Straker: There is a set of
slides which we are going to show and to which Mr Harston will
speak.
15524. Mr Liddell-Grainger: Mr Straker,
the Committee does not seem to have a copy of this evidence.
15525. Mr Straker: Sir, can we provide
those as soon as may be. I am so sorry.
15526. Mr Liddell-Grainger: Thank you
very much. The Committee number is A173.
15527. Mr Straker: Thank you very much,
sir. Mr Harston, introducing you to the Committee, you are Andrew
Harston, Port Development Director for Hutchison Ports UK Ltd.
(Mr Harston) That is correct.
15528. We note from the first slide your responsibility
for the development of new and existing HPUK ports. Could we go
to slide 2, please, and could you help us about the first matter
that you note there.[3]
(Mr Harston) We are not a railway
undertaking, we are a port undertaking, but we are an important
generator of traffic that goes on to the railway network. In our
current port operations at Felixstowe and Thamesport we generate
significant numbers of daily trains that are carried by the main
inter-modal operators, Freightliner, GB Rail Freight and EWS.
The ports are vitally important rail users which provide cargo
that travels to the whole of the national network.
15529. We will come to the figures in due course.
We see on this slide your role in relation to Crossrail. We know
there has been an environmental statement, were you consulted
about that?
(Mr Harston) No, we were
not.
15530. So far as rail operators and ports are
concerned, have you had an opportunity to consider whether that
is addressed in the environmental statement?
(Mr Harston) We have, and
we have no comments, but it was not considered.
15531. What about your role in the Timetable
Working Group, to which reference has been made?
(Mr Harston) Again, because
we are a non-railway undertaking, we were not included.
15532. Did Crossrail meet you?
(Mr Harston) No, they did not.
15533. Can we then go to the next slide.[4]
On the top of this slide there is a quotation: "Ports are
critical links in the logistics chain." Where does that come
from?
(Mr Harston) It comes from the
recently published Government document: Ports Policy Review.
15534. It is 2006, is it?
(Mr Harston) It is. It is
very recent. It is within the last eight weeks.
15535. Help us with the figures we see on this
slide, please.
(Mr Harston) With the exception
of the last line, which is not included, they are all from another
Government publication, the Department for Transport's Focus
on Ports which was published earlier in the year. Really it
is just to set the scene. "Ports are critical links in the
logistics chain" is a handy strap line, but what does that
mean? Trade contributes 30% of gross domestic product in the country
and, because we are an island (with the exception of the Channel
Tunnel), 95% of the UK trade by volume is transported by sea and
moves through the nation's ports. We understand that represents
75% by value of total UK trade and therefore around £330
billion worth of business. Importantly, from my perspective, 42%
of that volume—and we are talking here principally about
the containerised and roll-on/roll-off goods—42% of the
nation's volume, moves through ports which are operated by my
company.
15536. That is a very large proportion of the
UK container trade goes through HPUK ports. Do we see where those
ports are on slide 4?[5]
(Mr Harston) Yes. Our interests
in the UK are in Felixstowe, which is the UK's principal deep
sea container port, and we are also the owners and operators of
Harwich International Port and Thamesport on the Isle of Grain
in Kent—the three which you can see circled in the red circle.
15537. The penultimate bullet point identifies
that there are two substantial new port projects. Are they the
ones I have mentioned as Felixstowe and Harwich?
(Mr Harston) They are indeed, Mr Straker, and
they were recently approved by the Secretaries of State and represent
the two major new deep sea port schemes for the UK.
15538. If we go to slide 5, do we there see
the situation as it is today, in 2006, where the trains get to,
goods having come into Felixstowe?[6]
(Mr Harston) Yes. That was really
just to give the Committee a flavour of the national importance
of Felixstowe, in that we are handling 24 trains each and every
day of the week, Monday to Friday, and Saturday services in addition.
This year we will move 369,000 containers to and from the port
of Felixstowe by rail and that is approximately 10 per cent more
than we moved last year. It is very important in the overall mix
of business that we handle and the service that our customers
look for.
15539. Plainly there will be businesses which
will depend upon the import and export via rail throughout the
United Kingdom.
(Mr Harston) That is very
much the case. You can see the very strong presence of the North
West: Manchester, Liverpool and the Midlands in that context,
but also Scotland and Wales.
3 Committee Ref: A173, HPUK and Crossrail (LINEWD-11705-003). Back
4
Committee Ref: A173, Extracts from Ports Policy-your views invited,
DfT's discussion document for the Ports Policy Review, May 2006,
/www.dft.gov.uk (LINEWD-11705-004). Back
5
Committee Ref: A173, HPUK's Ports (LINEWD-11705-005). Back
6
Committee Ref: A173, Rail Share 2006 Distribution: Felixstowe-Trains
per day (LINEWD-11705-006). Back
| 
