132 November 2018 NEWSHelping ensure a sustainable future for UK rail freight www.rfg.org.uk

P.3 Hanson restores quarry rail link in Cumbria

P.4 DB Cargo UK opens Rail sector comes together to mark new £6m steel hub Remembrance Day Massive steel logistics terminal is open for business in Wolverhampton

Over the past year DB Cargo UK has cant sums of money that will greatly benefit been working to more than double the British and foreign businesses. size of its existing facility at Knowles Road, Wolverhampton, which receives “There is buoyant demand for steel from imported steel from across Europe. engineering and manufacturing firms in the area and we are delighted to be in a P.5 The £6m project is one of the largest invest- position to work with our customers to help RFG Autumn Group ments in rail freight in the past five years meet this demand,” he added. Meeting: report and is seen as a major vote of confidence in the UK’s continuing ability to trade and The massive new rail freight centre stands attract inward investment post-Brexit. adjacent to the West Coast Mainline, span- ning 11,880 sq m and with the capacity to The new state-of-the-art logistics centre will store some 48,000 tonnes of steel - the be used by some of the world’s biggest steel equivalent of 3,324 coils. companies including ArcelorMittal, Tata Steel and SSAB, providing a major boost to DB Cargo currently transports steel to the local businesses that use their products in centre by rail from the ports of Immingham, their manufacturing processes. Hull and Boston, where it is then unload- Ken Russell elected ed before being transferred onto lorries for as new RFG Chair.DB Cargo UK’s CEO Hans-Georg final delivery by road. The steel is then used Werner said: “This is a fantas- in the manufacture of a range of products P.6 Details on P.2 tic investment story for the UK. including household appliances, heaters Second rail Despite all the uncertainty over and cars. link to Scotland open Brexit, here you have a large for business German-owned company willing to invest signifi- Continued on page 4. RFG News Nov 2018

Executive Director’s Update: Maggie Simpson email your comments to [email protected] ence of rail freight from his previous time at the Department for High hopes Transport, where he had responsibility for rail freight grants, (a role that presently sits with Roads Minister Jesse Norman MP) for incoming and we will be writing to highlight the benefits of rail freight and current challenges we are facing.

Rail Minister Jones joins the DfT at an interesting point, with the Williams By Maggie Simpson, Director General, Rail Review now underway, HS2 Phase 1 heading towards Rail Freight Group (RFG) contract award and of course Brexit. Rail freight will need to be a key consideration in all these areas. Making sure that we Earlier this month we held our AGM and Autumn Group can highlight our successes, as well as our future needs, will Meeting in Sunderland and were lucky enough to have a therefore be particularly important over the coming months, tour of the Port of Sunderland, which has been busy re- and developments such as those in the North East will be key. instating and upgrading its rail connection that now runs down to the quayside. Although the port is only small by Our AGM also brought changes at RFG, with our outgoing comparison to others, it is clear that rail is a core part of Chair Tony Berkeley formally handing over the ropes. The its ambitions and to the economic growth and regenera- RFG Board have decided to have a non-executive chair, elect- tion that will come with port development. ed on an annual basis, and we were pleased that Ken Russell, a director of Russell Logistics, has been elected to serve as This is part of a trend that is seeing more trade, and rail freight, Chair for 2019. Ken will be supported by Neil Sime as Vice- from the regional ports, with a second daily service between Chair and we wish them the very best of luck. At the AGM Teesport and Scotland also starting this autumn. There is no Chris Swan of Tarmac was elected by members to become a doubt that changing trade patterns linked to Brexit are playing Board Director, and we welcome Chris to that role. He replac- a key part in this but an increased confidence in rail and the es Stuart Taylor of Potter Group who has stood down from the benefits it can bring is also a significant factor. Board after many years, and we would like to thank him for all of his support. Demonstrating how rail freight is helping to deliver these trade links is important as we make the case for rail freight growth I look forward to seeing many of you at the RFG Christmas with Government. We have a new Rail Minister in Andrew Lunch in a few weeks’ time, and meanwhile do enjoy reading Jones MP who picks up the rail freight portfolio from Jo John- this edition of RFG News. • son who resigned in mid-November. Jones has past experi-

supporter of the RFG, both on the Maggie Simpson said: “I am delighted RFG elects Ken Board since 2015 and as a corporate to welcome both Ken and Neil to the member since the start of the Group. new roles. They both bring with them Russell as new years of experience in the rail freight Chair He said: “I am delighted to be taking and logistics sector and I very much up this role. It has never been more look forward to working them.” The Board of the Rail Freight Group important to promote the benefits of (RFG) is pleased to announce that switching goods to rail and I look for- Tony Berkeley also formally stood Ken Russell has been elected as its ward to helping grow the RFG’s mem- down from his role as Chair. He will new Chair in succession to Tony bership and strengthening our com- continue to work for RFG as Euro- Berkeley who formally retired at munity across the sector. pean Advisor until the middle of next the Group’s AGM on 7 November. year. • Neil Sime, Managing Director of Vic- Ken is a director at Russell Logistics ta , has also been elected RFG would also like to introduce and has been a long-standing to the new role of Vice-Chair. He has its full Board of Directors: been on the board since 2003 and is a tireless supporter of the sector. Simon Blake, Aggregate Industries Andrew Harston, ABP Under a new process agreed by the Richard Clarke, DB Cargo UK RFG Board, Ken and Neil will serve as Lindsay Durham, Freightliner Chair and Vice-Chair for a 12-month Duncan Clark, GB Railfreight period. The election for these posi- Chris Geldard, Geldard Consulting tions will take place each year, with François Coart, Getlink all qualifying Board Directors eligible Martin Woor, Hutchison Ports to stand. Peter Frost, Kilbride Group Mike Garratt, MDS Transmodal RFG is also pleased to announce that Maggie Simpson, RFG Chris Swan, Head of Rail for Tarmac, Ken Russell, Russell Logistics has become a Director of the Board, Chris Swan, Tarmac being appointed at the AGM. Maggie Neil Sime, Victa Railfreight Simpson, currently Executive Director Rob Brook, VTG Rail of RFG, has been appointed to the David Turner, WH Malcolm role of Director General, and will con- tinue to lead the RFG in its work. Ken Russell 2 RFG News Nov 2018

Andrew Jones MP News in brief: replaces Johnson • The (ORR) has appoint- as Rail Minister ed John Larkinson, cur- Andrew Jones MP has been appointed Par- rently Director of Railway liamentary Under Secretary of State for Markets and Economics, Transport, with responsibility for rail, replac- as Interim CEO with im- ing Jo Johnson MP who resigned last week mediate effect following over Brexit negotiations. an internal competition. This follows the departure Andrew Jones was appointed on 12 November of Joanna Whittington, and was previously Exchequer Secretary to HM who left to take up the po- Treasury but before that served as a Minister at sition of Director General, the DfT from May 2015 to June 2017. Energy and Security at the Department for Business, He has also chaired the Northern Electrification Energy and Industrial Taskforce that directly advised the Secretary of Strategy (BEIS). State for Transport on the next steps for electrifi- cation of railways in the North of England. • DB Cargo UK has donat- ed a Breakdown and Re- covery truck to the Nation- al College for High Speed Rail to aid students with Hanson restores quarry rail link to take their training. The vehicle which can run on road and lorries off the roads rail and weighs around 17 Hanson has spent some Simon Day, Hanson UK’s re- GBRf’s MD John Smith added: tonnes will be used as part £250,000 in restoring the gional general manager for the “We are delighted to be part- of the Engineering cours- railway siding at its plant in North, said: “The investment in nering with Hanson on this new es at the college. Ashton-in-Makerfield. It is the site is an important part of service, which will be using the first-time rail freight has our rail strategy. We are work- one of GB Railfreight’s recent- • has opened been run into the depot for ing to try to increase the ton- ly purchased class 60 locomo- applications for next year’s some 10 years, and will see nage of aggregates we trans- tives. It is further demonstra- graduate schemes. New hundreds of lorry journeys port this way across the UK. tion of the role freight can play additions this year include taken off the roads each in taking trucks off the road contract and procurement, year. “These three trains a week will and reducing emissions.” quantity surveying and take around 1,500 truck jour- system engineering with- Working in partnership with GB neys off the road each year The material will be used by in general management. Railfreight (GBRf), Hanson will and mean that we only need the company’s asphalt and Applications can be made run three trains a week from to put the material onto road concrete plants as well as sup- here apply here by Mon- its quarry in Shap, Cumbria, transport for the last 5 - 10 plying the construction market day 10 December 2018. down to its site in Ashton. It miles rather than the 60 – 80 in the north west of England. is expected that over 200,000 miles we do now. This will re- As well as refurbishing the rail tonnes of material will be tak- duce the distances travelled track serving the site, money is • RFG’s Director General en by rail each year along this on the road by our truck fleet being spent on upgrading the Maggie Simpson spoke new route, which saw its first by around 500,000 miles per depot including a new weigh- at the Rail Alliance freight seminar in early October, service run on 15 October. year.” bridge and office facilities. hosted by RFG member iPort Rail in Doncaster. Delegates at the event heard from a range of speakers about the op- portunities in rail freight, where growth is expected and how the supply chain can engage with the sec- tor.

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3 RFG News Nov 2018

Continued from front page. Philippa Edmunds, from Freight on ject and everyone involved deserves Rail, added: “Rail freight terminals credit for working together to make it Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet help tackle our congested national happen. Member for City Economy at the City roads network and improve air quality of Wolverhampton Council, said: “We by reducing the overall number of lor- “DB Cargo should be congratulated are delighted DB Cargo UK has made ries on UK roads.” on its efforts to again invest in the this major investment in the City of future of rail freight in this country and Wolverhampton and expanded its Every train delivery to Wolverhamp- provide customers the confidence business. It is yet another example ton will remove an estimated 76 lor- and support they need to invest their of how businesses are thriving in the ries from Britain’s roads. resources in getting more lorries off city and are delivering jobs for local our roads and more freight onto the people. Maggie Simpson, RFG’s Director rail network.” • General, added: “This is a great pro-

Rail freight ex-military colleagues from both Freight- we know it today. Not only the 1.2 million liner and sister company Pentalver. Fol- British and Commonwealth Armed Forc- sector comes lowing a remembrance service, the name es who lost their lives on the battlefield, plate, which also features The Royal Brit- but also those who kept the home front together to join ish Legion’s Thank You logo, was unveiled going. We are grateful to those who ran by the winners of the staff loco naming the railway in the First World War and who ‘Thank you’ competition. helped keep the country moving during such difficult times.” • movement “The Royal British Legion’s Thank You movement provides a perfect opportunity On 5 November, in the lead up to Ar- to recognise and remember the crucial mistice Day, Freightliner named its role the rail industry had to play during recently re-liveried locomotive 66413 World War 1,” said Adam Cunliffe, CCO ‘Lest we forget’ in recognition of The of G&W’s UK/ Europe companies. “Trains Royal British Legion’s ‘Thank You’ transported troops, rations, coal, water, movement. The movement leads the horses and artillery across Britain and Eu- nation in saying Thank You to the First rope in a way never previously seen. Over World War generation who served, sac- 100,000 railway workers enlisted when rificed and changed our world. the war broke out. By the end of the war, tragically 20,000 had lost their lives. We The loco-naming ceremony took place at should never forget the ultimate sacrifice Freightliner’s maritime terminal in South- they made.” ampton and was attended by more than 50 guests; including the Mayor of Southamp- Catherine Davies, Head of Remembrance ton Councillor Stephen Barnes-Andrews, at The Royal British Legion, said, “We owe the Mayor of Southampton [pictured], the World War 1 generation a huge debt of industry representatives and several gratitude for helping to shape the world as RFG News Nov 2018 GBRf and 3Squared work to eliminate avoidable loco failures GB Railfreight (GBRf) has teamed up with digital technology consultancy 3Squared to help eliminate avoidable locomotive failures that can cause potentially costly delays on the rail network and to establish a unique train driver review process.

The Remote Data Download application (RDD) will stream in near real time from each locomotive data such as fuel and coolant levels and train performance details such as speed and braking.

The data will be fed into 3Squared’s RailSmart fleet defect reporting and corrective action programme. Analysis of the data will allow GBRf to identify and deal proactively with any issue likely to cause a problem with its locomotive fleet before it happens. This preventative maintenance approach will reduce asset downtime and increase fleet utilisation. The data is also to be used by GBRf in a ground breaking, first- of-its-kind review of train driver performance.

Currently all drivers must undergo a review with an assessor each week, month or quarter. Assessors travel out to a loco- motive, download data provided by the on-train monitoring recorder, take it back to the office and then review with the driver. This process is carried out with all drivers. we keep our locomotives running on today’s network for The GBRf-3Squared solution, however, turns this model on longer, maximising fleet availability and the ability to monitor- its head. Now data is sent electronically in real time to the ing re-occurring failures, thanks to having real time data at freight operator’s systems and is checked by the system for the click of a button. This data can also act as a supportive any irregularity such as speeding or excessive braking. tool for our front line operations giving analytical feedback on driving performance.” Those TMs that might then require support to improve are highlighted by the system, thereby allowing GBRf assessors Tim Jones, 3Squared MD, said: “Locomotive failures can be to focus on the individuals that require support the most. This costly to the freight company and disruptive to passenger proactive and targeted model of support will help to reduce and freight train services. The Remote Data Download ap- dramatically the risk and likelihood of incidents. GBRf’s class plication will help create a preventative maintenance regime 66 locomotives will be fitted with RDD technology by the end for GBRf identifying any potential problems before they be- of the year, with the rest of the fleet following that. come critical. With new features being added as the project progresses, RDD is a major step forward in the safe man- Dean Duthie, Head of Major Projects and Facilities, said: agement of the company’s fleet and the development of its “RDD is revolutionary, it allows us become proactive in how train crew.” •

Yet any proposals to change the structure and operations ‘Put freight growth at the of the railways will have implications for the freight sec- tor, and this needs to be a significant consideration for the heart of Rail Review’ review team. By considering the needs of freight customers at the outset, the review could present a golden opportunity RFG has called on Government to ensure that freight to support growth, enabling more businesses to benefit from growth is at the heart of its new rail review, announced rail logistics. on 20 September. Maggie Simpson, RFG’s Director General, said: “Across the The review, headed by independent chair Keith Williams, country, our members are hungry for more rail freight but it will consider all parts of the railway including increasing can be hard to deliver their expectations when there is an integration between track and train, regional partnerships and ever-greater focus on integrating track and passenger improving value for money for passengers and tax payers. services. We need this review to put freight customers The work is expected to take a year to complete. at the very heart of its considerations and find the right mechanisms to deliver the growth that our economy In announcing the review, Government is clear that it wishes demands.” to improve passenger services but is silent on the vital role that the railways play in supporting freight customers including Government’s announcement can be found here. ports, construction companies, retailers and manufacturers. •

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Container Terminal at Tilbury. Ross McKissock, Asset Manager for Victa wins new London Container Terminal, added: Victa is also responsible for checking “Victa Railfreight have worked in- DRS deal with the loaded trains, which can carry credibly hard with all stakeholders in Stobart train between 30 and 36 containers, and the process to deliver a safe, reliable processing the train documentation. and cost-effective internal rail move- Victa Railfreight has secured ment and we look forward to working a deal to provide ‘last mile’ rail Neil Sime, Victa’s MD, said: “This is with them on future projects within services within the Port of Tilbury a perfect example of the services we the Port of Tilbury.” for (DRS). offer, potentially reducing costs by using Victa’s resources for short jour- This is Eddie Stobart’s first train ser- The agreement is part of the launch neys around the Port, freeing main vice from Tilbury and will run three of a new intermodal train service for line resources to work long haul jour- days a week between the Port and Eddie Stobart [covered last issue], neys. It reinforces the long-standing Daventry. Victa is developing several connecting the Port of Tilbury to customer focused nature of our rela- similar operations around the country Tesco’s site in Daventry. tionship with DRS. It means we are to support the growing demand for working again with the Port of Tilbury new inter-modal services connecting Victa has the responsibility to deliver and the London Container Termi- ports with inland terminals. • the trains over the three quarters of nal, bringing operations back to the a mile connection between the main internal railway around the Port for line exchange sidings and the London the first time in four years.”

A substantial proportion of containers travelling on this service Teesport announces will be volume from the daily P&O Ferries service from Zeebrug- ge. Earlier this year P&O Ferries increased its capacity on this second link to Scotland service by 25% in a response to market demand for Teesport as the port of choice to connect shippers with Scotland. PD Ports has launched a second rail service connecting Teesport direct with Scotland, opening up further opportu- Frans Calje, CEO at PD Ports, said: “Our second rail service to nities to connect global importers and exporters with the Scotland is a major milestone for Teesport and the wider Tees north of the UK. Valley. Frequency and reliability is fundamental to the success of our customers’ existence. We have vessels arriving at Teesport The new service, operated by DB Cargo, will run five days a from the Baltics every 30 hours and every 48 hours from Poland week from the quayside at Teesport to PD Stirling Terminal at with direct rail connections from the quayside to Scotland twice a Mossend in Glasgow. The timings of the service operate in direct day, five days a week.” connection with the P&O Ferries service calling daily at Teesport from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam; providing a vital connection for Janette Bell, CEO P&O Ferries, said: “Our customers will benefit shippers, shipping lines and forwarders looking for frequent, flex- greatly from the increased connectivity which this second rail link ible and efficient routes to market. to Scotland will give Teesport.”

Having launched the first Scottish rail connection from Teesport Andrew Stirling, MD PD Stirling, said: “This is excellent news for in August 2015, the Port now offers more direct daily connections Scottish importers and exporters. It not only provides vital dai- to and from Scotland than any other port in the north of England, ly rail connections to and from the continent through Teesport, running 10 trains a week and carrying over 30 containers per it also provides support to Scotland’s manufacturing base. This journey each way laden with a variety of goods including food, growth in rail transport with Teesport has led to firm plans to drinks and furniture. expand our facilities and to launch the MIRP (Mossend Interna- tional Rail Freight Park).” • 6 RFG News Nov 2018

Paul Olvhoj, Port of Sunderland.

has been developed for the rail freight industry. Daniel Cop- RFG’s Autumn Group ley, Business Development Manager, Weighwell, explained how the company’s portable weigher is slotted into an ex- Meeting: Sunderland isting rail line and can be used for both static and in-motion (3mph) weighing to record weight of wheels, axles, wagons The RFG AGM and members meeting in Sunderland in and the train itself. Accurate measurements help reduce the November was a sad day for Tony Berkeley as he relin- incidence of derailment and so improve safety, he said. quished his role of RFG Chairman after more than 20 years. He thanked everyone for their support and said The Department for Transport’s Rail Freight Strategy identi- he was pleased to see the organisation in such a good fies intermodal, construction and automotive traffic as the key state. “These meetings are great for the exchange of growth areas for rail freight, said Ben Formela, Rail Freight, business and ideas – and are fun! We are a repository of Rail Strategy, Reform and Analysis. He said it was important a can-do attitude in the railways and associated indus- that we all work together to tell the story of rail freight and ex- tries,” he said. plain its benefits. His team will make sure that freight’s views are represented and understood in the Williams rail review Tony will, of course, continue to advocate the cause of rail and will advocate that the funds for mode shift revenue sup- freight in the House of Lords and elsewhere. He said he port are maintained beyond the current expiry date of 2020. would also continue to work for RFG in capacity of European advisor. Patrick Talbot, HM Principal Inspector Railways, ORR, gave an overview of its role and how it works with HSE to regu- The potential for rail freight, and the importance of rail for late safety at railheads. He explained that the ORR intends regional regeneration was emphasized by the first speaker to provide updated guidelines on the regulations relating to Paul Olvhoj, Sales Manager for the Port of Sunderland. He trespass incidents on freight sites, which say companies explained that all companies talking to the port asked about must “prevent unauthorised access so far as is reasonably the possibility of using rail and this had encouraged them practical”. The number of incidents is unfortunately increas- to invest £2.5m in developing rail freight handling capability. ing. The Railway Inspectorate is the National Safety Authori- He said he believed the main market opportunities include ty for all railways including metro, tram and heritage railways, advanced manufacturing, agribulks, construction, automo- as well as bring the enforcing authority and it is also respon- tive, offshore renewable energy and domestic multimodal. sible for prosecuting cases.

Jackey Leaper from the National College for High Speed Rail The meeting’s final speaker was James Fox, Commercial then outlined the many courses and opportunities offered at Director, 3 Squared, who talked about digitisation in the rail the college for people at all levels and in all areas of the rail freight sector. He outlined a few of his company’s products, industry, despite the ‘high speed’ name. She asked the del- including the mobile consisting application which was run- egates to consider how they could get involved through, for ner-up in the RFG Innovation Award category. This reduces instance, taking apprentices, guest lecturing, offering work the time to consist a freight train from 60 minutes to just ten, experience and/or mentoring to students, donating specialist and creates a backend dashboard for KPIs and other report- kit and equipment and arranging site visits. She issued an ing data. A new product is an Adhesion Digital Solution which open invite to visit the collage sites in Doncaster and Bir- provides route specific information about potential problems mingham. with weather, ice, leaves, etc. It includes a crowd-sourcing function which allows drivers to provide feedback about the The next speaker talked about some of the specialist kit that accuracy what they have received and pass on updated in- formation to drivers of following trains.

The meeting also included the RFG AGM where the result of a members’ vote for six board members out of eight can- didates was announced and the articles of association were updated.

Special thanks to the Port of Sunderland for supporting the event, arranging a tour of the port and giving delegates an excellent dinner the previous evening at the National Glass Centre. • 7

Dinner at the National Glass Centre RFG News Nov 2018

Initial discussions revealed early man’, and that HSTs were a good way GB Railfreight last year came to nothing. However, to tackle this problem. GBRf Managing Director John Smith revisits plans has now discussed in more detail “We will look at ways of delivering how the trains could be used. high-speed freight into our cities. Oth- to operate er operators have been into London, Speaking at a stakeholder event in but as an industry we need help,” he unwanted High London on 9 October, Smith said: said. “HSTs may come to fruition. We Speed Trains could run into London in the middle Smith told attendees that if the in- of the night, but there needs to be a dustry received the backing it needs, By Richard Clinnick strategic thought in terms of where then he was prepared to invest cap- they actually serve - perhaps some- ital: “We have probably spent £400 High Speed Trains operating for where near the North Circular?” million of our own money on trains, GB Railfreight (GBRf) are once wagons, locomotives and people. If again being considered as an He said that the rail freight industry we are successful then we will invest.” option by the operator. has yet to grasp how to serve cities and to compete with the ‘white van Reprinted with kind permission by Rail.

We were delighted to hear that Tony Berkeley won the Life- time Achievement award at this year’s Lloyd’s Loading List Global Freight Awards.

The 22nd awards were held on 15 November at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel.

The award was presented to Tony by host and stand-up comedian Ramesh Ranganathan and the award sponsor Gary Long, CEO of Genesee & Wyoming UK/Eu- rope Region.

the ports and in the distribution network as well as preventing the Rail freight upgrade to need for goods to be transported on the road network.”

boost UK businesses The project involves 29 ‘interventions’. These include platform alterations at stations and trackside changes. Work is also need- and local economy ed on three road bridges – Armthorpe Lane (between Barnby Dunn and Kirk Sandall, Doncaster), East Halton Road and East- A project is underway to upgrade the rail route between field Road (North Killingholme, Immingham). Work will also be Doncaster and Immingham, which will help ease road con- carried out underneath the bridge which carries the railway over gestion by shifting more goods to rail. the A18.  Network Rail has partnered with the Humber LEP and North Lin- Councillor Rob Waltham, Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, colnshire Council to invest more than £15m to support the growth added: “These much-needed enhancements to the rail network of rail freight in the region. It will allow high-cube shipping con- throughout North Lincolnshire will open up further business tainers to run between Doncaster and Immingham/Killinghome opportunities for the area by reducing the limitations on freight on standard height wagons. While high cube containers can be being brought to and from our ports. These works are critical to accommodated on the current Immingham – Doncaster routes, enhancing the port infrastructure on the south Humber bank. This it requires special low wagons of which there is a limited sup- significant investment from the council, Network Rail and govern- ply. Low floor wagons are also more expensive to run and main- ment through the Humber LEP, shows commitment to securing tain. the future of our area and will boost the local economy by opening up more opportunities and creating jobs in North Lincolnshire.” Rob McIntosh, Route Managing Director for Network Rail, ex- plained: “Rail freight is vital to our economy. It contributes £870m This project has an in-principle allocation of £7.2m from the to the economy and plays a big role in reducing congestion and Humber LEP’s Local Growth Fund programme which has been carbon emissions. The northern Lincolnshire ports are an essen- secured through its Growth Deals with government and is part tial part of the freight network and this improved route will allow of the government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse. • onward distribution from Doncaster to Scotland, the Midlands and beyond. This in turn will support the growth of local businesses at 8 RFG News Nov 2018

collectively or we have it thrust upon us. We should take Network Rail boss says ownership and have an honest conversation.” He suggested that maybe there should be a ‘truth and reconciliation’ ses- ‘challenges ahead’ sion as, for instance, the way the system works now, a fran- chise holder would never be able to admit it was not ready Andrew Haines, new CEO of Network Rail told the for a new timetable. All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group (APPRG) there were many challenges to improve services and rebuild the Mr Haines reflected on the differences in the rail industry reputation of the rail industry but stated that “franchis- since he left a decade ago to work at the Civil Aviation Au- ing delivers a lot more for a lot lower burden on the tax- thority (CAA), saying there were a lot of good things but that payer”. it had not adapted well to change. He asked, for instance, “do we drive and reward the right behaviour”? The terms of the new rail review by Keith Williams were not announced until after the meeting on 10 October, but Andrew He said the concept of the digital railway has been signifi- Haines stressed that his team would not be sitting still and cantly oversold. While it is important, “the digital railway – waiting for the results of the review, a possible white paper transferring the signalling from the track to the trains – is not and perhaps legislation, before making any changes. a universal panacea”. Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside and former chair He did acknowledge, however, that its implementation would of the Transport Select Committee, said people wanted require the closest cooperation between all stakeholders, clearer lines of accountability and responsibility between the and that it was the ultimate test case for Network Rail to work track operator and franchise holders. together with all partners. The only time freight was men- tioned in the one hour meeting was as an aside about traffic He said that this needed to happen and “we either do it on the . •

eration including some on-street running RFG will continue to monitor the situation Wales gets a new in Cardiff. The remainder of the Welsh rail as it evolves in the coming months. network, including the Marches Line, is to passenger operator remain with Network Rail with TfW Rail operating the trains. Publication of the Keolis Amey Wales Cymru, the consor- tium of Keolis and Amey now trading A series of stakeholder briefings was held Brexit Partnership as Transport for Wales Rail Services in the week running up to the takeover or TfW Rail, took over from the previ- and RFG was represented at the session Pack ous Franchisee in Ebbw Vale on 10 October. The main The Cross-Government Border Deliv- (DB owned Trains Wales) on 14 speaker was Lee Jones who is Chairman ery Group has published guidance on October. of KAWCL. a ‘No-deal Brexit’ Partnership Pack. Under the new arrangements, awarded by During the Q&A session, RFG asked a ‘Partnership pack: preparing for changes Transport for Wales (TfW) on behalf of the number of questions regarding the future at the UK border after a ‘no deal’ EU exit’ Welsh Government, TfW Rail is designat- for freight on the rail network in Wales and is designed to help support businesses ed the Operator and Development Part- elicited the following: preparing for day one if the UK leaves ner, rather than the Franchisee. 1. Nothing currently planned or envisaged Europe without a deal. The pack has just will preclude freight on the Valley Lines in been published on GOV.UK and it cur- The intention is for TfW Rail to take over future. rently focuses on Customs and Trade Tar- from Network Rail the infrastructure of the 2. Discussions have already taken place iffs. It will be updated with additional ma- Valley Lines radiating from Cardiff and to between TfW Rail and Network Rail re- terial and other updates as they become both maintain it and operate the trains. In garding the effect of the proposed en- addition the ex lines to hanced passenger services on network available. • Merthyr, and Treherbert are to capacity for freight and no issues have be electrified and converted to light rail op- been identified.

Labour Party Conference RFG hosts high-level debates RFG’s breakfast meeting at Labour party conference was also well attended and we were pleased to welcome Shadow Rail during Party Conferences Minister Rachael Maskell as our guest. The discussions covered

a range of areas, including how a Labour government could sup- RFG was pleased to hold a breakfast meeting at the Con- port growth in freight, the importance of stability and investment servative party conference, where we were pleased to be in the network, market opportunities, links to ports and the envi- joined by the then Rail Minister Jo Johnson MP. ronment. There was an open discussion on rail freight opportunities and challenges, and we hosted a good debate on how Government Scottish Transport Minister David Spaven, RFG’s Scottish Representative, also recently and the industry can work together to help deliver growth. Topics met with the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael discussed included the newly announced Rail Review, the vital Matheson. The discussion covered the areas where Government links between rail freight and ports, the implications of Brexit, en- is supporting freight in Scotland, network upgrades, potential for vironmental improvements and electrification. grant support for new services and cross border traffic. Many of these areas are discussed at the Scottish Freight Joint Board.

9 GBRf runs first commercial service to iPort Rail

On 18 September, GB Railfreight’s (GBRf) Class 66 loco ‘The Hoosier State’ had the privilege of being the first freight train to arrive at the newly opened iPort Rail inland port in Rossington, Doncaster.

The fully loaded container service began its journey on Tuesday morning, departing from Solent Stevedores at 5am, before arriving at iPort Rail at 2.30pm. New containers were loaded on and the train departed at 6pm back to Southamp- ton, a service that will now run five days a week.

Made up of 36 platforms, the arrival marked a milestone as the first commercial service to arrive at the £14m, 30-acre iPort Rail terminal. This new facility provides a state-of-the- art rail freight hub able to accommodate the UK’s longest trains up to six times a day, six days a week. It currently has storage for 1,500 TEU, plus room for expansion, with each of the reach stackers on site able to lift up to 115 tonnes. Con- nected via the South Joint Freight Line direct to the East Coast Main Line and the UK national rail network, it has been designed to meet (SACTFF) approved secure facility standards for international movements.

John Smith, MD of GBRf, said: “GB Railfreight is absolutely thrilled to be the first commercial service to arrive at the newly opened iPort Rail facility in Doncaster. Its opening marks a great development for the UK freight industry. The fact the loco went from Solent Stevedores to iPort also shows the excellent relationship we have with the team in Southamp- ton. We look forward to seeing these partnerships flourish even more going forward. More broadly, this new intermodal flow demonstrates that rail freight has a key role to play in delivering goods around the country and is primed to expand should the opportunity arise.” •

10 RFG News Nov 2018

and customer expectations for rapid type of development – where two Proposals and next day delivery. The proposals railway lines and two major roads include a traditional container han- come together right in the heart of underway for dling ‘inter modal’ terminal connecting England. To meet the Government’s into the Northampton Loop Line and policy for shifting more freight from new SRFI site an ‘express terminal’ connecting di- road to rail – and to meet customer rectly into the . demands for fast, reliable and sus- ‘Rail Central’ tainable logistics – Rail Central can In addition to the key rail infrastruc- be a major factor. We are pleased ture, the plans include up to 7.4 million to have submitted the proposals and Ashfield Land and Gazeley have sq ft of rail-connected and rail-served look forward to the next stage in this submitted proposals for Rail Cen- logistics and commercial buildings important planning process.” tral to the Planning Inspectorate plus a new ‘grade separated’ round- (PINS). Rail Central is a proposed about junction with the A43 and key Alex Verbeek, MD UK at Gazeley, Strategic Rail Freight Interchange improvements to J15A of the M1. said: “Submitting the application (SRFI) where the West Coast Main marks nearly three years of scheme Line and Northampton Loop Line Submission of the application follows design and development, shaped by intersect, adjacent to the A43 and approximately three years of consul- consultation and through detailed en- within 2 miles of Junction 15A of tation and development of the propos- gagement with a wide range of stake- the M1. als in line with technical studies and holders. Rail Central offers a best in assessments, plus feedback from a class SRFI scheme, substantial pri- The proposals are for a next-gener- wide range of stakeholders. vate sector inward investment, ap- ation SRFI capable of handling both proximately 8,000 jobs and a signifi- traditional container freight and the Andrew Fisher, MD Ashfield Land, cant boost to UK business and supply emerging demand for ‘fast freight’ said: “Rail Central occupies the best chains.” linked to the growth of e-commerce strategic location in the UK for this [Read more on this p17.]

Lest we forget This year marked 100 years since the signing of the WW1 armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month 1918.

The rail freight sector marked the day with a number of differ- ent events, some big and some small (see p3). All added to the sombre yet poignant sense of community on the day.

GBRf marked it and tweeted this image, remembering all of the service men and women who have made the ultimate sac- rifice and given their lives for their country, belief and families in every conflict.

DB Cargo UK named its Class 66100 loco ‘Armistice 100’ and was a key find for several spotters active on social media.

There’s more on the hashtag #lestweforget18 RFG OPINION

Can rural railways see a freight resurgence?

By David Spaven, RFG Scottish Representative.

Some 80% of the freight traffic carried on Scotland’s rail 2013, part-funded by the European Union. network travels over the West Coast Main Line (WCML) corridor, linking key hubs in Central Scotland with major Many lessons were learnt, but five years on, the roads are markets and import sources in England, mainland Eu- still taking all the strain. A key problem is that no single com- rope, and deep sea destinations via the largest English pany – even Diageo, the whisky giant – has enough traffic ports. to fill a regular train on its own. A range of traffic flows – in particular from the wider food and drink sector – needs to be But the 100 miles of the WCML within Scotland constitute a aggregated together to make the rail proposition viable. But small fraction of our 1,760-mile rail network, which extends not all the potential rail traffic will switch overnight from road inter alia to the West Highlands, Thurso in the north and haulage – manufacturers and processors have their estab- Stranraer in the south west. A uniquely high proportion of lished contracts with road hauliers, and some will adopt a the network is made up of largely single-track routes serving ‘wait and see’ approach before taking the plunge. predominantly rural territory, and their core function is over- whelmingly the movement of passengers. But could these Rail hauliers – who operate in a generally low-margin mar- underutilised rail corridors fulfil a bigger economic and envi- ket – cannot be expected to take all the risks of planning ronmental role in the Scottish Government’s aim to see rail and laying on a regular train service, for which there is not freight volume increase by 7.5% between 2019 and 2024? yet long-term customer commitment and which inevitably will lose money in its start-up phase. The answer is surely Railways – with their high fixed costs for a dedicated, guid- for Scottish Government to take an imaginative approach, ed route-way – are volume-hungry. In essence, to compete such as it did some years ago for the development of new effectively with road haulage, freight trains need to be as bus routes – providing ‘pump priming’ funds to cover early long as possible. In Scotland, some trains linking the Cen- losses while traffic builds, with the proviso that subsidy is tral Belt and southern markets can operate to the maximum strictly time-limited, after which the rail service has to survive length achievable anywhere on the British network, namely commercially. 775 metres, or the equivalent of over 50 lorries in one swift, safe and sustainable movement. This kind of innovative measure should be a key factor in the Scottish Government realising its growth aims for rail freight. But on the internal Scottish routes, rail’s advantage over Some ‘deep rural’ routes could also play a part, with a combi- road is significantly reduced as a result of historical infra- nation of strategic infrastructure investment and time-limited structure constraints, particularly on single-track lines where start-up grant facilitating a significant switch of freight from crossing loops are required for trains to pass each other. The unsuitable roads to parallel railways. Corridors where this most notorious example is on the Highland Main Line from approach could succeed include: the , Perth to Inverness, over which the daily Tesco / Stobart con- where bridge weight restrictions and short crossing loops are tainer train is restricted – due to short crossing loops – to just a constraint on rail playing a full part in the massive planned 20 containers, despite the train locomotive being capable of expansion of output at the Fort William aluminium smelter; hauling up to 28 containers. and the Far North Line from Inverness to Caithness, which is also significantly constrained by inadequate infrastructure, Scottish Government funding for enhancement of the ‘supply yet has the potential to be carrying a much bigger share of side’ is therefore clearly a critical factor in rail freight realising overland traffic, including supermarket containers, offshore its potential, but is there actually enough demand on rural oil supplies, gas oil and timber. routes to fill regular freight train services? It is in all our interests that much more of Scotland’s ex- Whisky traffic provides an interesting example. Every year tensive rail network should play a significant part in the rail nearly 1.5m tonnes of bulk spirit is shifted from the North of freight revival which the Scottish Government wants to see Scotland to maturation sites and blending plants in Central delivered over the coming years. Scotland – but 100% of this traffic has been on road since 1992. In an attempt to find a more sustainable solution – First appeared in ‘The Scotsman’ on 8 Nov 2018 which would also be competitive with road haulage – the regional transport partnership, HITRANS, pioneered the Lift- ing the Spirit trial train service from Elgin to Grangemouth in 12 GUEST ARTICLE

M6 and M62 corridors every day, easing congestion, improv- Freight may not get a ing air quality and reducing road collisions without needing to add extra road capacity.[iv] Each of these projects would vote but people want reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 10 per cent and particu- lates by 7 per cent, per corridor; the number of people killed it transferred to rail on and seriously injured would reduce by 18 people, nationally, if these four rail lines were upgraded. Building more roads safety grounds alone will not solve the problem as it creates new traffic. When a new road is built, new traffic will divert onto it, a well- By Philippa Edmunds, Freight on Rail Manager, Campaign known and long-established effect known as ‘induced traffic’. for Better Transport. The relative safety costs of the different modes of freight Drivers want to see more freight transported by rail to transportation need to be taken into account. Government improve safety, reduce congestion and lessen road figures show that the HGV involvement rate in fatalities on damage. urban roads (39 deaths per billion vehicle miles travelled by HGV) is more than six times the rate of cars (6.4 deaths per Rail freight is key to servicing the UK economy in a billion vehicle miles travelled),[v] with the DfT valuing the pre- cleaner, safer way that reduces road congestion and vention of each road death at £2.1 million.[vi]A recent ques- road infrastructure damage. The average freight train tionnaire, from Brake and Direct Line Group showed that 79 can carry the same amount of cargo as 77 heavy goods per cent of drivers are concerned for their safety because of vehicles (HGVs). Rail freight has clear benefits for im- the amount of freight being transported on motorways (lorry proving congestion on our roads. Furthermore, rail traffic on motorways reached a new peak of 7.9 billion vehi- freight produces 76 per cent less carbon dioxide emis- cle miles in 2017).[vii] The same drivers are calling for further sions than the equivalent truck journey.[i] investment in railways to alleviate the pressure on the net- work. Freight may not have a vote but this report shows that Road and rail freight complement each other; the two modes drivers want to see more freight transferred to rail. should play to their strengths to provide the most efficient sustainable and safe freight solutions. Rail freight is well Philippa Edmunds is Freight on Rail Manager for the Cam- placed to offer long-distance consumer services as well paign for Better Transport, where she makes the case for as the traditional bulk services. If more lorry traffic can be national and local government support for rail freight by high- transferred to rail, road safety and reliability will improve. Ac- lighting its benefits to society and the economy. Before tak- cording to the Freight Transport Association (FTA), the run- ing up her current role in 2007 she was a campaigner in the ning cost of a 44-tonne truck is around £1 a minute, so any Freight on Rail department and previously held a number of hold-ups have a considerable financial impact on haulage management and consultancy roles in the private sector. • operations.[ii] [i] Department for Transport (2016), Rail Freight Strategy Campaign for Better Transport has long campaigned for in- [ii] Freight Transport Association (2018), Lifting 300 miles of roadworks will tegrated transport planning, so the Department for Transport help deliver Easter, https://fta.co.uk/press-releases/20180327-lifting-300- (DfT) commitment to working cross-modally within freight in miles-of-roadworks-will-help-deliver-easter [iii] Department for Transport *(2018) Transport connectivity to ports: review of its recent Ports Connectivity study[iii] is encouraging. We do the current status and future infrastructure recommendations, https://www.gov. not believe that a silo mentality benefits the economy, the en- uk/government/publications/transport-connectivity-to-ports-review-of-the-cur- vironment or society; however, at the moment, there is sup- rent-status-and-future-infrastructure-recommendations pressed demand for rail freight services, because of the lack [iv] Campaign for Better Transport (2017), Impact on congestion of transfer of of space on the rail network – with every rail slot being filled freight from road to rail on key strategic corridors, https://bettertransport.org. uk/sites/default/files/research-files/cross-modal-freight-study.pdf as soon as it becomes free for consumer trains out of the [v] Department for Transport (2018), Reported road casualties in Great Britain: main container ports such as Felixstowe and Southampton. 2017 annual report, table ras20005 [vi] Department for Transport (2018), Reported road casualties in Great Brit- Campaign for Better Transport commissioned research, ain: 2017 annual report, table ras60001 [vii] Brake (2018), Smart roads: put safety first, our strategic road network – sponsored by the DfT, which shows that upgrading the ex- pt.2, http://www.brake.org.uk/assets/docs/dl_reports/DLreport_Smart-Roads_ isting rail lines that run parallel to key congested motorway Our-Strategic-Road-Network_Part-2_July2018.pdf routes could transfer 2,000 HGVs from each of the A14, A34, 13 RFG SPONSOR PARTNERS 2018

The Rail Freight Group (RFG) would like to thank each of its Sponsor Partners for 2018. These companies come from within the core RFG membership and have chosen to provide additional support for the group’s activities and events throughout the year. Together they represent a wide range of key stakeholders and RFG would like to sincerely thank all of them for their commitment to the group and ongoing support to the UK rail freight sector.

Westminster Update - JR Consulting Nov 2018

as part of a future UK-EU relationship? Brexit and Network Rail • How advanced is progress on the rail bilateral agree- ments and what will they cover? evidence • What opportunities does Brexit present to boost the UK’s maritime sector? By Jonathan Roberts, MD, JR Consulting A transcript is expected in about two weeks. With Brexit looming larger, albeit an uncertain quanti- Meanwhile, oral evidence has been published from pre- ty and quality, the Westminster Column provides in this vious sessions, and is available here: EU Internal Market RFG News more links and information on a vital subject Sub-Committee future transport arrangements. for international shippers. We also note the oral evidence provided by the new Network Rail Chief Executive to the Andrew Haines at the Transport Select Committee House of Commons’ Transport Select Committee. Andrew Haines, Network Rail’s new Chief Executive, gave oral evidence on 10th September to the House of Brexit information from Parliamentary sources Commons’ Transport Select Committee. He set out his The House of Commons’ Research Library is a useful top priority at Network Rail as putting passengers first: fount of knowledge on many matters. It has just published “The reason I took on the job, which a few people de- an up-to-date compendium of the current state of govern- scribed to me as one of the worst jobs in Britain, was that ment legislation on transport topics within Brexit, for those I have been very passionate throughout all my career interested in international flows. about putting passengers first, and being on the side of passengers. I am not sure that Network Rail is perceived ‘Brexit and Transport’ discusses some of the pertinent as that at the moment.” issues in the four main transport policy areas: aviation, railways, roads and road-based transport, and ports and Picked up on the lack of mention of freight, Andrew Haines maritime. It explains what preparations are being made replied: “When I say “passengers”, I use it as shorthand for exit in the form of secondary legislation and what the for passengers and users of freight services. I take that as Government has said about the implications of a possible read. I have already met or spoken to the senior players ‘no deal’ in the technical notices it began to publish in Au- in the freight industry. I spent a day with the team manag- gust 2018. ing freight interests. Every freight train can take up to 76 lorries off the road. The typical carbon footprint of a train It summarises the UK Government’s actions since the is 76% less than that of the equivalent road transport, so vote to leave the EU in July 2016. These have been fo- I am very serious about developing the strategic freight cused on air transport rights to fly, continuing membership network and allowing freight to grow in what are very chal- of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), road lenging times for them...” haulage and delays at UK ports, particularly Dover. “My commitment is to make sure that passengers’ inter- In June 2018 the Department for Exiting the European ests are front and centre of Network Rail’s agenda for Union (DExEU) published a framework for UK-EU part- every single one of our employees. For me, that means nership on transport post-Brexit. This was followed by a continuing the strong safety improvement record that I in- White Paper on the future relationship in July 2018. The herited from my predecessors. I want to turn around the White Paper sets out the UK’s broad ambitions for a Brex- long-term performance decline that has been going on in it deal, these were covered in recent RFG News editions the rail network for about seven years, and for it to be- 130 and 131. For rail the Government is seeking bilateral come a more agile organisation so that we can deliver rail agreements with relevant Member States to support better value for money for the taxpayer. I want us to be the continued operation of services through the Channel easier for our customers, funders and interested parties Tunnel and on the Belfast-Dublin Enterprise line. to engage with and to be a better neighbour. That is all a massive challenge.” The bulk of the oral evidence was The HoC Library also offers a link to a larger Brexit da- about maintaining a strong safety culture, and how to fo- tabase. Look up the House of Commons Library Brexit cus better on ways of delivering better reliability and en- portal. hancements, and for those requirements to be specified very clearly. House of Lords’ EU Internal Market Sub-Committee The House of Lords established an investigatory sub-com- He confirmed on 11th October in a follow-up letter that he mittee following the Brexit White Paper, and is holding was leading work at NR “looking at how we should struc- various oral evidence sessions. ture ourselves to deliver [Control Period] 6 and provide the best possible service for passengers and freight”. He The latest was last week on 14th November, with evidence commented that the “Rail Review that Keith Williams is from the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, and DfT offi- leading also offers the opportunity to align the whole in- cials Lucy Chadwick (Director General, International, Se- dustry with that focus on passenger and freight interests”, curity and Environment Group) and Martin Jones (Deputy and gave further detail on safety priorities. Director, EU Division). Topics expected to be covered in the session were: • Will the EU exit work streams led by the Department for Transport be delivered on time? Contact: • If the UK and the EU reach a deal, what can we expect Jonathan Roberts, MD, on potential future UK-EU transport arrangements from JR Consulting the Political Declaration? 07545 641 204 • What access arrangements will the Government seek [email protected] for (i) road hauliers and (ii) passenger transport operators www.jrc.org.uk

16 Planning Update - Burges Salmon Nov 2018

heat and power. Interestingly, despite the application site

Planning Update being some way inland, the DCO includes a Deemed Ma-

By Elizabeth Dunn, Partner and rine Licence (DML). This is because the development will Stephen Humphreys, Senior Associate, Burges Salmon. include an underground gas pipeline which will be near to a tidal section of the River Aire. In this issue we discuss some recent developments A number of issues arose during the consideration of the of applications for new Nationally Significant Infra- application which were essential to the recommendation structure Projects, more specifically, the Rail Central to make the Order. These include overcoming the Exam- (Strategic Rail Freight Interchange) application and ining Authority’s concern about securing the demolition of the Eggborough CCGT decision. We also look at the the existing coal-fired power station. To secure its dem- Autumn Statement and the implications on infrastruc- olition in a timely manner a s.106 agreement was put in ture and planning. place. In addition to this, to overcome concern over the loss of habitats on the site, the applicant recognised that Rail Central (Strategic Rail Freight Interchange) its biodiversity offsetting calculations showed only a very The application from Ashfield Land Management Lim- small biodiversity gain, so more was needed to be done. ited and Gazeley GLP Northampton s.á.r.l, which was As such, a financial contribution towards biodiversity im- received by the Planning Inspectorate on 21 September provements was committed to towards off-site wetland 2018, has not been accepted to proceed to examination. habitat creation in the Lower Aire Valley. The decision was published on the 19 October and the rejection of the application was based on the fact that the This is the last decision we will see in 2018, the next is application documents did not meet the level of standard due in February for the Tilbury2 harbour project. dictated by the Planning Act 2008 and the application was “insufficiently clear”. Autumn Statement The 2018 autumn budget was announced by the Chan- Rail Central is a proposed new strategic rail freight inter- cellor, Philip Hammond, on 29 October 2018. The last change in Northamptonshire. The proposed site is located budget before Brexit suggests a change of direction for where the West Coast Main Line meets the Northampton the Conservative government after years of austerity. Be- Loop Line to the south west of Northampton and between low are some key points from the budget that will have an the villages of Blisworth and Milton Malsor. This proposal impact on developers and local planning authorities. is a response to the Government identifying a clear need for more goods to be transported by rail because moving • £500m will be provided by the government for the Hous- goods up and down the country efficiently, safely and sus- ing Infrastructure Fund (taking the total of this fund up to tainably is vital to the UK economy. £5.5bn). This fund will provide additional funding for new infrastructure, in order to encourage housing develop- The Planning Act 2008 states that application documents ment in areas of high housing demand. The Docklands must be specific and correct. This is to avoid uncertainty Light Railway has been provided with £291million from regarding what is being applied for. However, the appli- this fund, a scheme which is being put forward by the Gov- cation documents submitted contained a number of is- ernment as a real success and beneficiary of this fund; sues such as inconsistencies in the documents (including specific works being applied for), references and plans • a £675m Future High Streets Fund will be spent on im- not matching up, and issues with the certification of docu- proving transport links, re-developing empty shops and ments and the environmental statement. restoring historic properties. Furthermore, the govern- ment has promised to consult on how the current planning The applicants are planning to reapply will clearly try to rules can be modernised to facilitate the transformation of comply with the Planning Inspectorate’s recommenda- the high street; tions of ensuring the quality and correctness of the appli- cation is to the required standard. It is also encouraged • a total of £28.8bn between 2020 - 2025 has been that the applicant meets with the Inspectorate for advice pledged by the government to improve roads in England. on how best to address the issues. This is a clear remind- Road tax will fund a National Roads Fund which will in- er of the importance of quality control when it comes to clude £25.3bn for the strategic road network (Roads DCO applications, in order to avoid the cost and delay or Investment Strategy 2) which incorporates motorways, resubmission. trunk and A roads; Eggborough CCGT • the budget included a commitment that the government The application for Eggborough CCGT was granted de- will respond in full to the National Infrastructure Com- velopment consent by the Secretary of State on the 20th mission’s (NIC) “National Infrastructure Assessment”, September. The Eggborough project will develop a new through a National Infrastructure Strategy that is due to be power station with a gross output capacity of up to 2,500 published in 2019. A further NIC study (due Spring 2020) megawatts and a 200MW peaking plant/black start plant. is also being commissioned, which will consider how to The scheme will be capable of supplying the electricity improve the UK’s infrastructure in light of technological needs of around 2 million homes. Located near Selby in advances and future challenges, such as climate change. North Yorkshire, the power station will make an important An infrastructure finance review will also take place, al- contribution to the security of national energy supplies though no timeframe has been given for this. and the local economy. This extra funding across the board is encouraging; it The acceptance letter provides that the application met a might not be the end of austerity just yet but it clearly national need and that it complied with regulatory require- shows further determination by the Government to ments such as carbon capture as well as combined

17 Planning Update - Burges Salmon Nov 2018

support key infrastructure. There are always calls on the Government to provide further funding which should be applied more widely but it is likely that the Government is putting its best foot forward at this stage when one consid- ers how the political scene could change over the coming months depending on how the ongoing Brexit negotia- tions are resolved. Contact: Elizabeth Dunn, Partner [email protected]

Stephen Humphreys, Associate [email protected] www.burges-salmon.com

tinually investing in our infrastructure is key for ABP. is ABP Hams Hall a strategic site and committing to these two new reach stackers takes new reachstacker order strengthens our crucial role in keeping Britain trading. We look forward to their arrival next year. The two new machines are ex- Cooper Specialised Handling has received a supply order pected to replace the oldest of the fleet of eight reachstackers from ABP for an order of two Sany SRSC 4540 intermodal as part of ABP’s ongoing commitment to rotate and upgrade the reach stackers for their Hams Hall Rail Freight Terminal, lifting equipment used on-site.” Sutton Coldfield.

The site regularly services six rail services every day and runs a core fleet of eight reachstackers to service both rail and road op- erations. The Sany machines, expected to enter service in early 2019, are highly specified with many standard features includ- ed within the scope of supply which otherwise would have been priced as extra. The machines will also benefit from Sany’s ‘in- telligent’ jacking system as well as a five-year structural warranty for the complete machine.

David Cooper said ”ABP has identified that component con- sensus across reach stacker supply means that there is little to choose in driveline between manufacturers and that chassis and boom are the real areas where a realistic differentiator can be found. In that respect, Sany fabricate their own structures and are unique in doing so. This affords them the ability to offer a 5-year warranty.”

Mark Thompson, Head of Asset Management for ABP said “Con-

More copies of Rail Political Map 2018 available from RFG office

Members should have by now received a copy of the new rail political map, which RFG has help sponsor alongside Porterbrook Leasing, Rail Delivery Group, Railway Industry Association and Unipart Rail .

We have a few copies left in the office, so if you did not receive one through the post, or need another copy, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we gladly will send one out straight away.

Please email Yvonne Mulder, RFG Project Manager, at [email protected]

18

European News Nov 2018

the service is timed to coincide with

Samskip times Samskip short-sea departures to Hull, News in brief: creating a seamless multimodal option. new rail service to • The European Commis- sion has approved €70m The new rail link is in addition to six meet ferries to encourage the modal times weekly train services connecting shift from road to rail and Melzo and Rotterdam, which will main- Samskip has launched a new rail inland waterways around tain their frequency in order to coordi- freight connection from MA Logistics’ the Belgium Seaports. nate with short-sea services connecting Holland Cargo Terminal (HCT) in Am- The scheme running to to UK ports (Tilbury, Hull and Grangem- sterdam to Melzo, east of Milan. 2023 provides a subsidy outh), Ireland, Norway, Scandinavia and per train or per container the Baltic States. • The new service runs three times a week to rail operators and barge and as well as avoiding road congestion, consolidation terminals.

• Rail Cargo Group (RCG) ing in partnership with Infrabel over the next has launched a new freight Infrabel and British four years. We operate in a highly competitive train running between two market so it’s extremely pleasing that, after a intermodal hubs in Łódź Steel sign new deal short break, Infrabel have again named us as and Istanbul. The weekly

their main supplier. It’s a great endorsement of 18-wagon container train The four-year agreement is for the main- our products and services and securing another runs from Poland to Tur- tenance and renewal of the Belgian rail contract with a national network operator is a key via Czech Republic, network and will see British Steel supply source of enormous pride.” Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia between 35,000 and 40,000 tonnes of rail a and Bulgaria. year – more than 3,000km of rail over the The steel for the rails will be manufactured at duration of the contract. Deliveries are British Steel’s headquarters in Scunthorpe, be- • DB Cargo has launched scheduled to start in January 2019. fore being transported to the company’s state- a new direct service of-the art rail rolling facility in Hayange, France. between Cologne and Richard Bell, British Steel’s Commercial Direc- From Hayange, a shuttle service will deliver Malmö. It takes the new tor Rail, said: “We’re delighted to have been train loads of the rail direct to Infrabel’s welding train less than 20 hours awarded this contract and look forward to work- plants. • to travel from Germany to Sweden, carrying a variety of traffic. It is establishing the new service following The first regular contain- ‘overwhelming’ customer er train has left the Port of demand. Barcelona for the Miranda Container Terminal (TCM) in • Mediterranean Shipping Miranda de Ebro, Spain. It is Company (MSC) has managed by Synergy, part of started a rail freight ser- the Hutchison Ports group. vice to link Seville with Cordoba and Valencia, From the Miranda de Ebro in response to growing facilities, Synergy will offer, demand from agricultural in addition to pure railway customers. The service services, storage services, consists of two trains per container emptying and filling week with 35 containers services, as well as transport each. It currently focuses services. Miranda de Ebro on olive oil and orange ex- will serve an area that covers porters. It is part of more areas including: Santander, complete multimodal ser- Palencia and Asturias. • vices connecting Andalu- sian agricultural farmers with ports in the Middle East and North Africa. Contact the RFG Team: • A new intermodal freight Maggie Simpson, Director General, 07737 007 957 terminal at Lužianky in Phillippa O’Shea, Administration Manager, 07931 763 081 Slovakia will serve the Yvonne Mulder, Project Manager, 07887 767 666 new Jaguar Land Rover James Falkner, Media Officer, 07753 271 110 car factory that was offi- Robin Smith, Welsh Representative, 07968 488 905 cially inaugurated on 25 , Scottish Representative, 07917 877 399 David Spaven October. The Jaguar Land Mike Hogg, North of England Representative, 07833 402 804 Rover plant has the ca- RFG News is published by the Rail Freight Group, 7 Bury Place, London, WC1A. Tel: 020 3116 0007 pacity to produce 150 000 [email protected]. www.rfg.org.uk. RFG welcomes comments, letters and short articles. Opinions expressed in these cars a year. Up to 80% of articles are of the author only. RFG News is published primarily for online distribution but we will continue to send hard its production is expected copies to those readers who request them. to be carried by rail.

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