What happens when the parcel stops ticking? As our legislators’ thoughts turned towards tinsel, we saw again the traditional parliamentary game known as “When the music (parliamentary questions) stop – let’s stop passing the ticking parcel of hot potatoes.” As every spin-doctor knows, this is either best done the day before the House breaks up, or better still the day after. A blizzard of written, and therefore unquestioned, ministerial statements flutter down from Whitehall. Answers to long stalled awkward questions … Continued

This is the final part of our look at how freight may become the Achilles’ heel for rail planners in London. The first article provided some context, looking at the various strategies, the national flows and the issue of loading gauge. Then we explored the main intermodal (container) traffic flows through London in more detail. Here we explore some of the options and draw some uneasy conclusions – that whilst the RUS process has helped identify some of the problems, … Continued

The more we looked at rail freight in London the more we realised the significant challenges it poses, including to TfL’s aspirations for the Overground and its ‘strategic interchanges’. As the network in London reaches capacity it quickly becomes clear that choices will need to be made between providing paths for freight vs passenger, and that might actually require reductions in passenger services. London’s growth has focused a burgeoning travel demand on same city core as in the 1860s, so … Continued

In our previous posts on the shape of London’s rail network, we looked at how our infrastructure legacy gives rise to the pattern of services which concentrates demand onto the city core and its ring of termini. While London’s population and travel to work area have grown enormously, the core has largely remained the same as it was in the 1860s. The challenge is to reshape the network to expand the city core and break free from this legacy. New … Continued

When we last left our intrepid freight connection, it was about to face off against shopping behemoth Tesco. This is because, as reported in This is Surrey Today, the supermarket firm have put in a planning application for a superstore bang in the middle of the proposed railway alignment. The rise of Tesco’s is recorded in Andrew Seth and Geoffrey Randell’s comprehensive history “The Grocers”. Founded over seventy years ago by Jack, later, Lord Cohen, it has grown from a … Continued

With the ever-increasing political rhetoric over freight carriage, and depot battles being fought elsewhere, it would be easy to overlook another area where policy and developers appear to be clashing over the issue of Freight routes – Redhill. The Background Most British Railways were built during the reign of Queen Victoria. During this effervescent and turbulent period of massive construction now known as “The Railway Mania”, lots of one-route railway companies bloomed briefly before coalescing into bigger companies – some … Continued

Amongst the jubilation that broke out amongst local politicians and objectors only Alex Lewis writing in the St Albans Review appeared to appreciate the true significance of the verdict – this had been an on points decision not a knock out blow. Helioslough read the report carefully and, taking comfort from the Minister’s remark about the strategic need for freight terminals in the southeast, decided that a renewed bid stood a good chance of success. From their point of view … Continued

John McKenna writing in the “New Civil Engineer” reports on developments at the London Gateway port being built by the Emirati company, Dubai World Ports on the site of the former Shell oil refinery at Thameshaven. DP World intend to build a £1.5bn development on the 750 hectare London Gateway site on the north bank of the river Thames near Thurrock in Essex. The site will be transformed into a vast container port and Europe’s largest logistics hub to help … Continued