The Anonymous Widower

Government Calls For More Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges

Modern Railways is reporting that a government report is calling for the development of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFIs). It says this.

A new government report calls for development of Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges (SRFIs) to deal with growth in the rail freight sector and encourage a modal shift from road to rail haulage.

So how many large rail freight interchanges exist in the UK?

An article in Wikipedia called Rail Freight in Great Britain, lists a number of inland freight terminals. Most seem to be small with the exception of Daventry.

Living in London, I have seen the saga of the development of a rail freight terminal at Radlett. But nothing seems to be happening at present and despite the site being granted planning permission in July 2014, this is the sort of project that might not survive the next General Election. Another large freight interchange; the East Midlands Gateway at a site North of East Midlands Airport, appears to be very much opposed by the local residents.

We have a choice in this country. We can either take the freight containers to and from the ports, a trainload at a time or we can move them singly or hundreds of trucks. As at some point for the local distribution and collection, a tuck must be involved, there will be a need for SRFIs, where goods are sold or manufactured. Obviously, in a few cases, as with the Mini plant at Cowley, trains will go into the manufacturing sites.

Bear in  mind that schemes like the Felixstowe-Nuneaton Freight Capacity Improvement which will take 225,000 lorries off the road, will increase the need for inland freight terminals and hopefully free up the roads.

But if we are going to have long freight trains winding their way across the country and through London like these vans, we must do a few things to improve life for the neighbours of rail lines. After all, the standard freight motive power of a Class 66 diesel locomotive is a smelly and noisy beast.

1. As many freight lines as possible must be electrified and some powerful electric locomotives must be sourced. The Great Western Modernisation and Electric Spine will help, but important freight routes like Felixstowe-Nuneaton must also be electrified.
2. In London, the Gospel Oak to Barking Line is being electrified and hopefully, the days of diesel locomotives in the capital are numbered.
3. There are also places on cross-country routes like Lincoln, where level crossings and long freight trains, are a big source of annoyance. These points of irritations must be replaced by bypasses or bridges.

There is one important benefit of electric freight services, that has nothing to do with the moving of goods. It is the ability to run more and better passenger services using electric trains. In the next few years, due to the upgrading of existing electric services, there are also quite a few good quality electric trains that can be cascaded and/or refurbished.

As an example, if Felixstowe to Nuneaton were to be electrified, then services from Cambridge, Ely, Ipswich and Stansted to Birmingham could be run by a train like a Class 319. In fact, as that electrification would link to both the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines, other services into East Anglia would be possible.

December 18, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Electrification, Freight