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Transport triangle of the East Coast

16th August 1980, Page 29
16th August 1980
Page 29
Page 30
Page 29, 16th August 1980 — Transport triangle of the East Coast
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

LAST WORD has yet to be iid about the Channel tunnel. -iere is a school of thought that lys "Let's get what grant we in from the EEC, and the work ill aid employment prosects." And another which links it's a good antiaavyweight measure. But for iese with the will to work on a innel, there are still vacant jobs ; the South now — with British ail for one.

Competition has hotted up mong ferry companies, and at can only be a good thing for auliers and motorists alike. nything which can increase .lat must be beneficial, and rhatever siphons off traffic and ierefore success which means 'vestment by ferry companies, ; bad news.

More competition is likely to e let in if Mrs Thatcher does ompel BR to sell its non-rail iterests like hotels and ferries.

Very likely this will happen, ut it's quite possible too in the ase of its Parkeston Quay Harhch port that BR will retain the :on and sell the ships. I will say ne thing for British Rail now: :gv drivers are said often to ask D go by Sealink because they ;refer Sealink food, service and iar prices.

Our East Coast is historically sea-minded area with many :ontacts over the years with iolland. And road transport 'rings a lot of work to the area — lotably the Harwich / Ipswich / relixstowe triangle.

The Harwich and Manningree Standard reports that the own -has again been left virtuilly unscathed by the growing inemployment which has grip)ed the rest of Britain'. There ire 107 notified vacancies in he town. Transport is always in he news in this triangle, but Jnfortunately there seems not to De too much industry to provide :raffic, which mainly comes 'rpm London and the Midlands.

Felixstowe has grown enormously, as a container port in particular. Harwich is also outstanding for its rail and passenger traffic and Ipswich, while entering the container age too, is also big in break-bulk cargoes. All three have need to reclaim land from the sea in order to grow. Ipswich Port Authority has increased the acreage at its West Bank Terminal by three extra acres to 23, and at a cost of £725,000.

Another new investment was the £225,000 Karrilift for the CIS Haifa service; the largest piece of mobile equipment can straddle four containers and a vehicle.

It is not just a short-sea ferry port. The 10,200-ton Fanti, for instance, operates to Lagos! Apapa and Tema for Ghana Lines, one of 19 lines using the port. And there is the North Sea Ferries line familiar to roll-on / roll-off operators to Europoort.

Harwich has had a DFDS ferry link to Esbjerg, Denmark, for a hundred years; the cente nary was celebrated only last month. Prins Ferries run to Hamburg. And of course at Harwich there is also the Navyard, and its container trade went up last year.

The area could do with a through link to the Ml, but at least has a new bypass to ease congestion.

Sealink is a wholly owned subsidiary of BR; it is the largest ferry operator in Europe, with 58 ships, and also manages Holyhead, Newhaven, Folkestone, Heysham, Fishguard and Stranraer, plus minor harbours and terminals.

The early history of Harwich records skirmishes with Vikings. And as early as 1661 an agreement was made between the Postmaster General and City of Amsterdam resulting in the start of a packet boat service between Harwich and Hellevoetsluis, and this ran regularly until the Napoleonic wars.

Then in 1863 a weekly cargo service began to Rotterdam. No wonder so many Dutch people speak English (though few English speak Dutch).

The Dutch Zeeland Steamship Company came to Parkeston Quay 50 years ago with a day service to Flushing, reaching a pooling agreement with the London North Eastern Railway. This has lasted until today, Parkeston Quay having passed into public ownership on the nationalisation of the railways in 1948. It was care of the Zeeland's excellent ship Prinses Beatrix that I sampled the service.

A number of British firms had booked provisional space for hgv on the night I went, but, sadly, a sign of the times, only one British haulier took up its option. Only half the commercial vehicles anticipated in the afternoon had arrived by 8.30pm. But there was room only for another two tourists' cars when we sailed.

However, I am happy to report that the semi-trailer unit which arrived belongs to an East Anglian operator — one that's doing well, its driver, Ted

Hilliam, told me. Ted, who has been driving for Spalding Haulage since Christmas, was making his third trip to Holland that week. His load — daffodil bulbs!

However, his firm sometimes does take manufactured goods: gas fires. Over at the Hook of Holland I also saw dozens of English made caravans awaiting collection and a few British Leyland exported commercial vehicles. But Fords are imported hundreds at a time, notably Fiestas from Valencia, Spain, to Toleman's at Harwich.

Ted is the son of a farmer but switched to driving, paying for his own hgv lessons at Anglia HGV in Cambridgeshire, for more money, and finds that he thoroughly enjoys the life. "My firm cannot do enough for you," he said, "and we are always busy, We don't know which way to turn.Ellerman Keyways, an agent, handles the paperwork, and Ted is finding ro-ro to his liking. He drives a Scania and has stereo radio installed, although he prefers Volvo cabs and fancies Gardner engines. You can't have everything.

The Dutch port, like the English one, seems in pretty good nick, with modern equipment. Ted rates the driver facilities there just ahead of those of Parkeston Quay_ While Harwich has some old buildings, the offices inside are pleasant. The Hook still has a large gun emplacement, a legacy from the Germans in the last war, which it has just decided to demolish. There is talk at both ports of enlarging, and apparently a moratorium on investment for a while.

A brighter Sealink idea is the Ro-ro Drivers' Club. "The firm pays a small subscription and the driver gets benefits like cheap meals in the first-class

restaurant and the use of other first-class facilities, although his cabin is second class," William Gibbons, Harwich assistant port manager told me. -The club is self-regulated by the drivers.

"In the 24 weeks up to June 14, 10,512 commercial vehicle single journeys were recorded through Parkeston Quay and around 75,000 trade cars — imports — came through the port in :a year. There are two sailings to the Hook and two back every day of the year except Christmas day. At the moment we are making a drive to attract more unaccompanied trailers, particularly for the day boat with spare capacity,he said.


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