BR steams into trucks
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• British Rail is attempting to woo opponents of the controversial Channel Tunnel highspeed rail link by promising that it will take HGVs from Kent's main roads.
Full-page adverts tell readers of newspapers whose readers are likely to be affected by
the high-speed link that the Channel Tunnel will bring „more heavy goods vehicles thundering through your town" but claim that the high-speed link will stimulate a switch to rail freight away from overcrowded roads.
Playing on anti-lorry sentiments, BR's ad asks "What does Kent stand to gain?" above the picture of a large, dirt-encrusted artic (coincidentally, a left-hand-drive vehicle with foreign plates). It goes on to state: "It's worth considering that one freight train can carry the equivalent of some 50 lorry loads."
The high-speed rail link between the Channel Tunnel and London is intended primarily for passenger traffic, but BR obviously sees a market for freight traffic in off-peak hours, and is fighting hard to counteract intense local campaigns against the link.