ROAD TO LOSE 43 p.c. OF LONDON PORT FREIGHT
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A DRASTIC cut in the proportion of freight was forecast by Mrs. Barbara Castle on progress on the £20m. extension project. The Minister said the road approaches were due for improvement and, for example, the A13 route between Tilbury and London would be developed to join the North Circular Road and the general motorway network, with connections to Mil and MI.
But, speaking of Freightliners, Mrs. Castle said that whereas in the past 93 per cent of the Port of London's traffic was carried by road it was anticipated that in future the proportion would become 50/50 with rail.
The Minister was fresh from her successful discussions with the NUR and she told PLA representatives that a continued embargo by the NUR on Freightliner terminals could have jeopardized the new operation.
It was essential, she said, that the Freightliner depot being constructed by PLA within the Tilbury dock area should be completed by 1968 as operations were due to start then under two contracts signed between PLA and Overseas Containers Ltd. and United States Lines.
Included in the big extension scheme at Tilbury are nine new deep-water berths—including several for container traffic—and a new grain terminal capable of discharging 2000 tons an hour.