Some Good News
Amidst the daily gloom we have unearthed something very positive: our sources suggest that formal consent will soon be given to the clearance of the Ipswich to Peterborough railway line for the running of high cube (9′6″) containers on standard wagons. Whilst this is long overdue it is nonetheless very welcome as the alternative for a lot of traffic on the Felixstowe to North East corridor has been either specialist railway wagons or road haulage.
Given that, in our experience, the use of rail on this corridor can be in the region of 20% cheaper than road haulage - cost differentials which inevitably find their way into consumers’ shopping trollies - it tends to highlight the necessity for taking a longer term and more holistic view of transport infrastructure investment. Whilst the effects of Dr Beeching’s axe have been reversed on a very small scale the simple fact is that the UK railway has a finite capacity and squeezing additional capacity from the network, especially for freight - even higher speed freight such as 75mph container services - is a dark art.
Despite ever increasing fares, volatile fuel costs and the grind through the congestion on most roads, rail travel has seen a remarkable renaissance in recent years; operators have, understandably, sought to fulfil their franchise obligations and lay on more and faster services all of course placing pressure on capacity and ensuring that freight paths are harder to find. The debate about the economic value of a track path has been ongoing for some years but whether this will manifest itself in a more balanced approach to freight pathing remains to be seen. Perhaps it all boils down to robbing Peter to pay Paul, but in the meantime both we, and our customers, are delighted with the latest news.
