1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156 
Coal hauliers prepare for more colliery closures
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
n by Guy Sheppard
Coal hauliers are bracing themselves for further cutbacks as the future of two more Yorkshire collieries is called into question.
UR Coal is examining the viability of Its 12 pits after losing 1.40m over the last 18 months. The review is due to be completed next month (December).
Harworth Colliery, near Doncaster. and Maltby Colliery, near Rotherham are believed to be at particular risk of closure; last year they produced 2.7 million tennes of coal.
The company has already closed the Prince of Wales Colliery at Pontefract this year and is due to close four more at Selby by 2004.
Hargreaves Transport Services, based near Durham. delivers from both Maltby and Harworth. mainly to power stations. Group company secretary Terry Hodgson says any changes to the amount of coal coming out of these collieries would have a "dramatic effect" on the business.
Ho adds that Hargreaves is one of the largest carriers of coal by road; it has been a viable system for UK Coal and
its predecessors for 30 years.
Hodgson warns that alternative suppliers will not necessarily use road: "Obviously there will be substitute suppliers but much of that can come into the docks and obviously they are going to look closely at the sort of logistics they use."
However, Richard Lomas of Buxton-based Lomas Distribution, which carries 60.000 tonnes a year from Maftby to a cement works, is more upbeat: If they brought in imported coal, I imagine we would fetch it from the docks or whatever," he concludes.