Examination of Witnesses (Questions 16020
- 16039)
16020. If we could put up, please, Exhibit 2.[101]
(Mr Taylor) This highlights really
the influence of Acton on our operations and it highlights the
diversity of all the lines coming across the country. We will
see that the ones with the orange dots are where we load material,
so it is not just limited to the Mendip Quarries. It includes
south Wales, it includes Avonmouth, and then, over on the east,
Marks Tey, Parkeston, Dagenham and the Isle of Grain in Kent.
You have loading areas around the outside of that and running
the trains into the centre all through Acton. The yellow line,
for example, represents, from the Mendips, 3.6 million tonnes,
and you can see the diverse terminals it serves, down into Kent
and up into East Anglia.
16021. Let us turn to the specific topics. So
far as the matters of capacity and timetabling are concerned,
those have been dealt with by other witnesses. First of all, do
you support what they have said?
(Mr Taylor) I do.
16022. Secondly, do you seek the same relief
by way of undertaking as they sought, and by that I mean EWS and
Freightliner?
(Mr Taylor) I do, yes, because
all they are doing is replicating my demands.
16023. Is it right to say that it would not
be helpful for you to add anything on those matters because everything
has been said?
(Mr Taylor) I think it has,
yes.
16024. Just one matter though, do you anticipate
any circumstance in which aggregate flows coming from the Mendips
are going to remain at existing levels, or do you anticipate them
growing by 2015?
(Mr Taylor) They will grow,
and they have grown over the years; but I think there is one clear
point with aggregates: take this time last year, we did not know
that the Olympics was going to happen and I think that is very
much the way the aggregates happen, that something occurs and
the demand goes up and down. That is really what we are adjusting
to, this up and down demand. This is why I have only referred
to 2006 in all my exhibits this year, because it is a very fluctuating
market. I believe it will grow because of the demise of aggregates,
particularly in the Thames Valley.
16025. Secondly, so far as the railway clauses
and the Access Option are concerned, a considerable amount of
evidence has been given. Do you again support that evidence?
(Mr Taylor) I do, yes.
16026. Do you want to add anything on those
matters?
(Mr Taylor) Not at this
stage. I think it is for EWS and Freightliner, as my haulier,
who are responsible for those; but I think it is important that
we keep the access and it is understood and clear on the relief
lines (on the Great Western particularly) at all times. I will
leave it to others to get the right answer on that. It is essential.
16027. There are just three sites I want to
refer to. The first site I want to refer to is West Drayton. I
ask if there could be put up on the overhead the Promoters Plain
English Heads of Terms about West Drayton.[102]
This is a document supplied to the rail companies last week. First
of all, when we are dealing with West Drayton I think we have
to draw a distinction, do we not, between the West Drayton site,
where Lafarge operate, and the site known as West Drayton East,
with Hanson?
(Mr Taylor) That is correct,
yes.
16028. Let us start with the main site at West
Drayton where Lafarge operate. Do you supply them?
(Mr Taylor) We do.
16029. We there see what the Promoters are saying,
and they say it would have extinguished EWS but the Promoter is
promoting an additional provision whose effect would be to protect
the existing Lafarge interest on the site, and it has prepared
a draft undertaking giving effect to this. Pausing there, provided
that happens and Lafarge are able to continue there and able to
receive your trains, would you be content?
(Mr Taylor) I would, yes.
16030. Then it goes on further to say that the
Promoter is also promoting a revised depot strategy. That is a
matter which is entirely going to depend on whatever we see when
AP3 comes out, is it not?
(Mr Taylor) Yes.
16031. And therefore is not really a matter
for the present—save if EWS can stay there I imagine you
would be delighted?
(Mr Taylor) Exactly, yes.
16032. There are two related matters. Could
we please have up on the screen the document which was EWS16,
and that is in the EWS bundle of documents A145.[103]
This is a list of Bill capacity enhancements which EWS and Freightliner
were seeking. If we go to the bottom of the first page where West
Drayton is seen, we can see a reference to certain works which
are planned there. In the third column they are described as Works
3/9, 3/10 and 3/10A, and they are all matters which are in the
Bill and have been environmentally assessed. How important are
those works?
(Mr Taylor) As I understand it,
they are critical for the working in that area for the timetable
to work and for access to our sites and the Colmbrook Branch and
the area to make the freight trains blend in with the other trains.
16033. Can you imagine any circumstances in
which it would not be essential to have those works before the
first Crossrail train ran on the line?
(Mr Taylor) No, I could
not.
16034. Could we please scroll down to the next
page and the top item and could we blow up the top section, West
Drayton, dealing with Works 3/10 and 3/10A-B?[104]
(Mr Taylor) Again, I think it
is like the previous sheet, it does apply to the working of the
trains in that area and the access to our sites in that area and
the free running of the trains operating onto and off the Colmbrook
branch.
16035. So far as Colmbrook is concerned, it
has its access, does it not, from West Drayton?
(Mr Taylor) It does, yes.
16036. Do your trains serve Colmbrook?
(Mr Taylor) Yes, we do.
16037. Are those Works we have just been looking
at, 3/9 and 3/10, important also for access to Colmbrook?
(Mr Taylor) As I understand it, yes
16038. No more on that matter. Could we then
go back to the Promoters Heads of Terms for Acton.[105]
This is what the Promoter has agreed: first of all, to form a
working group. I think you are involved in that working group,
are you not?
(Mr Taylor) I am, yes.
16039. That says that those will be people who
will give due notice of proposed changes and will be consulted
on matters such as track layout, programming and possession planning.
Is that something which is very important and which you want written
down in a document?
(Mr Taylor) It is essential, yes.
101 Committee Ref: A179, Mendip Rail Limited-Distribution
routes via Acton Yard (LINEWD-15705-002). Back
102
Committee Ref: A179, West Drayton, Plain English Heads of terms-The
Promoter's position (SCN-20060713-010). Back
103
Committee Ref: A145, List of Bill Capacity enhancements and other
enhancements mentioned in Crossrail documentation (LINEWD-190605-057) Back
104
Committee Ref: A145, West Drayton, List of Bill Capacity enhancements
and other enhancements mentioned in Crossrail documentation (LINEWD-190605-058) Back
105
Committee Ref: A179, Acton Yard, Plain English Heads of terms-The
Promoter's position (SCN-20060713-011). Back
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