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Issue 2 2020 - Freight Business Journal


///NEWS


HS2 means more freight trains to take the strain


The freight industry has broadly welcomed the government’s go- head for HS2, the UK’s first ever domestic high-speed rail line that will run from London to the Midlands and North of England. Rail Freight Group (RFG) said the new line could not only speed passengers north and south at up to 200mph but could also deliver significant benefits for rail freight by releasing capacity for new services on the existing network and allowing new services to operate. However, the Government has not yet confirmed how much capacity


will be made available for freight once the new line is open. RFG director-general Maggie Simpson said: “Now that the uncertainty is over, Government and HS2 must act to confirm and safeguard released capacity for freight use and to resolve bottlenecks elsewhere on the network where HS2 trains will operate. This is essential to allow freight operators and customers to develop their future plans, and to ensure that the benefits of HS2 can now be delivered in practice.”


East Midlands rail hub is open for business


Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris joined


Maritime Transport,


property firm SEGRO and more than 350 guests to officially open the new strategic rail


freight


interchange at East Midlands Gateway. The Minister


said:


“This new Gateway provides direct access to the UK’s major ports, demonstrating that Britain is open for business and our


commitment to boosting jobs and trade while cleaning up our air.”


The 17-acre open-access


terminal can handle up to 16 775-metre trains daily with storage capacity for over 5,000teu. Maritime’s Intermodal arm has already launched regular rail services between the Gateway and Felixstowe.


Aussie rules for EU-UK trade?


The Government warned that it could adopt an Australian- style relationship with the EU in its approach to the EU trade negotiations, published on 27 February. It said that while it will work


hard to agree a Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), “if it is not possible to negotiate a satisfactory outcome, then the


trading relationship with the EU will rest on the 2019 Withdrawal Agreement and will look similar to Australia’s”. It also repeated Prime Minister


Boris Johnson’s earlier stipulation that the Government will not extend the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. It said this leaves “a limited, but sufficient, time


Toga named as best managed company


Freight and logistics company Toga Group was named as one of Ireland’s Best Managed companies in the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards in Dublin on 6 March. Managing director, Martin Gately said: “We are thrilled to have been recognised as a Deloitte Best


Managed Company for 2020 and to have joined the prestigious Best Managed Family. Our team work very hard and to obtain this recognition is just reward for the whole workforce. It is a true team effort here at Toga.” See special supplement on


Ireland


for the UK and the EU to reach agreement” with a number of negotiating rounds between now and the June high-level meeting foreseen in the Political Declaration. The Government hopes that,


by that point, the broad outline of an agreement would be clear and be capable of being rapidly finalised by September. However: “If that does not seem to be the case at the June


meeting, the Government will need to decide whether the UK’s attention should move away from negotiations and focus solely on continuing domestic preparations to exit the transition period in an orderly fashion. In so doing, it will be necessary to take into account in particular whether good progress has been possible on the least controversial areas of the negotiations, and whether the various autonomous processes on both sides are proceeding on a technical basis according to agreed deadlines.”


CHIEF and CDS to run side by side


Chairman of customs clearance solutions provider Agency Sector Management Peter MacSwiney has welcomed plans to extend the Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight (CHIEF) computer system until 2021, giving more time to prepare for additional changes. But he added: “Safety


and security checks post 31 December are more of a worry as the right infrastructure is not in place, that is going to take time and it is hard to see the benefit.” British International Freight (BIFA)


Association director


general, Robert Keen also welcomed the review of timetable for implementation of new Customs CDS system and that dual-running with CHIEF was likely. He stated: “In 2019, when


HMRC announced its proposed plan for completing delivery of the new Customs Declaration System (CDS) and migrating traders from CHIEF to the new platform, we expressed the view, shared with community system providers and soſtware developers, that the timetable


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