Freight
Freight in the North D
Tony Berkeley looks at the implications of the wider proposals for devolution of passenger rail in the North of England
uring the autumn, Rail North consulted the industry and wider stakeholders on its long- term rail strategy. How did
the document address rail freight? It is worth starting by looking at rail freight in the north, and the future prospects for growth.
The rail strategy consultation itself stated that ‘In the North of England the direct value of the rail freight industry is £209 million per year - around 0.03 per cent of the economy of the North. The industry supports economic output of £862 million through indirect links and £1,567 million through induced links, which represents around 0.15 per cent of the economy.’ In other words, rail freight is supporting industries in the north of England in generating economic outputs some four to five times greater than the direct economic value it delivers itself. So what are the key markets? Well, intermodal freight which represents
about one third of all rail freight in the UK, moves into and from the north of England, principally from the deep sea ports at Felixstowe, Southampton and London. The region has terminals in Manchester, Leeds, Selby, Liverpool, Doncaster and elsewhere, receiving regular services hauled by most of the major operators. Presently, the region also makes use of intermodal services for export traffic, but there is as yet little volume generated at the region’s ports. This may change in the future, as the Port of Liverpool is investing extensively in new facilities for larger container ships and associated rail facilities. On the East Coast, Teesport has also begun to attract short sea container volume, and, although the rail service that started a couple of years ago no longer runs, the potential for future services remains, particularly if shipping services increase.
Containerised traffic for major
supermarket and retail chains is also being conveyed in increasing volumes through the region, with the facility at Widnes becoming an important centre. Proposals for new rail linked warehousing are also being developed at a number of sites, including Port Salford and a number of locations in the northern East Midlands. But most of the rail freight in the north of England still remains in the bulk sector. Coal, long the backbone of rail freight continues to be imported in significant volumes with statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation showing a 9.5 per cent rise for quarter one of this year over last. Coal is imported for power stations particularly along the Aire Valley from Immingham, one of the largest generators of rail traffic in the country, and other ports such as Hull, Liverpool and Tyne Docks. From here, it moves by rail to the major power stations such as Drax, Cottam, Fiddlers Ferry and others. Coal fired generation is of course
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