INTERVIEW: Nick Radcliffe
the UK’s transport congestion issues. ‘Investment in the rail network - as part of an overall transport strategy that must also include road, air and sea - makes sense.’ However, while HS2 is the clear government favourite,
it’s not the only rail improvement option according to Radcliffe. ‘Alternatives could be a large, conventional rail scheme, or multiple small projects targeted towards removing inefficiencies across the network. I’m not saying HS2 isn’t the answer - it may still be. But my concern is that in the ongoing political argument, we’re losing objectivity. ‘Good decision making stems from good data. That solid, objective data has been noticeably absent from all sides of the discussion to date. When what’s at stake is the economic growth of the country, the future of our transport network should be driven by sound reasoning, not rhetoric.’ Radcliffe believes the rail industry itself is working hard to bring customers back. ‘There are three elements in the discussion: Network Rail, the freight operating companies and the aggregators. Network Rail is investing in the strategic rail network, the routes coming out of the ports. There are ongoing gauge enhancements, which allow taller boxes, meaning you can get more inside. NR is working on the bottlenecks, improving signalling and junctions across the country and the Foc’s are trying to run longer trains - Freightliner now has 30 wagon trains, where the previous maximum was 24 or 26. It’s improving the scalability and reducing the costs, especially where running locomotives and employing drivers is concerned. ‘The aggregators are designing new services for domestic intermodal flows, and even the property companies are getting involved by building new rail freight terminals - at least they are trying - however a lot are being held up by interminable and expensive planning procedures.’
Engaging retail customers
Each element of the rail freight chain is engaging with retail customers, which Radcliffe says is hugely important. There’s a demand for reducing costs, improving carbon footprint and
“The Freight Transport Association has asked retailers what they want, and it’s a joined-up road and rail service. They don’t need the extra complications, and happily that’s exactly where we come in”
securing a good customer service reputation. ‘The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has asked retailers what they want (see page 65), and it’s a joined-up road and rail service. They don’t need the extra complications, and happily that’s exactly where we come in.’ In the FTA’s On Track! report, Chris MacRae, rail freight policy manager, said that having spoken to eight major high street retailers, he had managed to compile a list of common but solvable niggles within the industry. These included more flexible timetables and services, more rail freight terminals, improved visibility of costs and the chance to reduce them, and a consistent measure of the environmental impact of rail. At a Rail Freight Council meeting, FreightArranger was discussed as a method of addressing at least some of these concerns. Said Radcliffe: ‘Supermarkets use primary and secondary logistics. That’s port to national distribution centre, and distribution centre to shelf. With our system, they can buy additional space. But they could also do small volumes to regional distribution centres too, instead of going via the national distribution centre, which is another leg of the journey.
‘The store delivery modules are also rail compatible with December 2013 Page 57
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