North East Scotland SustAccess Freight Study Final Report Aberdeenshire Council March 2007 Prepared by: ............................................... Approved by: ................................................ Geoff Clarke Paul Finch Principal Consultant Principal Consultant North East Scotland SustAccess Freight Study Rev No Comments Date 3 Final Approved Report 23/03/07 2 Final Draft Report 28/02/07 1 Second Draft Report 21/12/06 0 Initial Draft Report 31/10/06 Faber Maunsell, Riverside House, Riverside Drive, Aberdeen, AB11 7LH Telephone: 01224 224652 Fax: 01224 224651 Website: http://www.fabermaunsell.com Job No 48799 TABT/120 Reference 11 Date Created October 2006 c:\fabermaunsell abz\projects\48799tabt 120 sustaccess freight\11\mar 23 north east scotland sustaccess freight study.doc Table of Contents 1 Introduction................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 11 1.2 SustAccess Project ........................................................................................... 11 1.3 Study Brief ........................................................................................................ 11 1.4 Methodology ..................................................................................................... 12 1.5 Structure of Report............................................................................................ 12 2 Policy Review .............................................................................................................. 15 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 15 2.2 UK Policy .......................................................................................................... 15 2.3 Scottish Policy................................................................................................... 15 2.4 Regional Policy ................................................................................................. 16 2.5 The Local Policy Context .................................................................................. 16 2.6 Summary of Local and Regional Policy............................................................. 17 3 Local Rail Network, Services, and Freight Facilities................................................ 19 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 19 3.2 Local Rail Network ............................................................................................ 19 3.3 Rail Services in North East Scotland................................................................. 19 3.4 Rail Freight Terminals in North East Scotland................................................... 20 3.5 Planned Developments in the Area................................................................... 20 4 Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 24 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 24 4.2 Overview........................................................................................................... 24 4.3 Review of Previous Wider Studies that have Implications for North East Scotland............................................................................................................ 24 4.4 Review of Previous Studies Concerned Mainly with North East Scotland ......... 26 5 Potential Rail Freight Demand ................................................................................... 30 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 30 5.2 Current Tonnage by Rail ................................................................................... 30 5.3 Potential Sea / Rail traffic.................................................................................. 30 5.4 Potential Rail Tonnage...................................................................................... 32 5.5 Other Potential Traffic ....................................................................................... 34 5.6 Assessment of Likelihood of Achieving Transfer ............................................... 34 5.7 Train Load Equivalents ..................................................................................... 36 5.8 Assessment Of Demand Against Aberdeen Area Terminal Capacity Available In 2007.............................................................................................................. 37 5.9 Train Path Capacity........................................................................................... 39 5.10 Summary .......................................................................................................... 39 6 Problems and Opportunities ...................................................................................... 42 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 42 6.2 The Current Opportunity in North East Scotland ............................................... 42 6.3 Current and Future Constraints......................................................................... 42 6.4 Rail Freight Opportunities ................................................................................. 45 6.5 Potential Options for Marketing and Operations................................................ 47 7 Options for Rail Freight Terminals ............................................................................ 51 7.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 51 7.2 Review of the Potential Sites............................................................................. 51 7.3 Review of Potential Terminal Sites.................................................................... 56 8 Appraisal of Options................................................................................................... 61 8.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 61 8.2 Current and Future Problems and Opportunities............................................... 61 8.3 Development of Objectives ............................................................................... 62 8.4 Option Appraisal ............................................................................................... 63 8.5 Marketing and Developing Demand .................................................................. 63 8.6 Operations ........................................................................................................ 64 8.7 Rail Freight Terminals in Aberdeen / Aberdeenshire......................................... 66 8.8 Workshop Verification ....................................................................................... 68 9 Recommendations...................................................................................................... 70 9.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 70 9.2 Improving Demand through Marketing .............................................................. 70 9.3 Operations ........................................................................................................ 73 9.4 Terminals .......................................................................................................... 75 9.5 Summary of Outcomes ..................................................................................... 77 Appendix A – Overview of Scottish Freight .......................................................................... 83 Appendix B – Demand Analysis............................................................................................. 91 Appendix C – European Best Practice ................................................................................ 104 Appendix D – Workshop Outcomes .................................................................................... 112 Summary of Recommendations ………………………………………………………………... 7 Table 3.1- Freight Rail Services, Frequencies and Commodities…………………………… 20 Table 4.1 - Actual Freight Traffic 2005 (Per Day, Directions Summed)………………….… 26 Table 4.2 - Paths Available 2005 (Per Day, Directions Summed)………………………...… 26 Table 4.3 - Forecast Demand 2014 (Per Day, Directions Summed)……………………….. 26 Table 4.4 - Forecast Demand 2030 (Per Day, Directions Summed)……………………….. 26 Table 5.1 - Current Rail Freight Services and Tonnage……………………………………… 30 Table 5.2 - Total Additional Potential Rail Freight Demand………………………………….. 33 Table 6.1 - Summary of Problems and Opportunities Facing Rail Freight in North East Scotland….……………………………………………………………………………..……….… 49 Table 7.1 - Performance of Each Potential Terminal Location………………………………. 57 Table 7.2 – Summary of Different Terminal Sites…………………….………………………. 58 Table 9.1 – Summary of Recommendations……………..……………………………………. 79 Table A.1 – Goods lifted to and from Scotland by origin & destination - Million Tonnes…. 89 Table A.2 – Goods lifted to and from Scotland by origin & destination - Million Tonne Kilometres………………………………………………………………………………………….