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Fighting for a piggybac
Page 17
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There are good arguments for moving freight from road to rail, including cutting congestion and pollution. But, as so often, the devil is in the detail and a simmering row is about to explode...
by Karen Miles In The promoters of a railfreight project which could change the lives of thousands of hauliers are planning legal moves to make their dream come true.
Frustrated by what they see as a lack of co-operation from Railtrack over the future of their project, the Piggyback Consortium is expected to try to force the track and signalling owner into action by dragging it in front of the Rail Regulator.
The complaint will centre on allegations that Railtrack is failing in its legal duty to encourage railfreight, citing the lack of progress over the Consortium's scheme which is designed to take up to 400,000 international lorry movements off the road every year.
Latest round
This is the latest round in the row between the two bodies, which seem unable to agree on the worth of the project and, crucially, its cost.
The promoters want a rail service from Scotland to the Channel Tunnel which hauliers can use for transporting standard 4m-high semi-trailers.
A fledgling piggyback ser
vice is being run by railfreight operator English, Welsh & Scottish using specialist lowheight trailers.
But the more ambitious fullheight trailer service favoured by the consortium would bash into the tunnels owned by Railtrack, so it won't work unless expensive tunnel enlargement work is carried out. Railtrack estimates the total cost of the engineering works and compensation for passengers while work is under way at around £250m. The consortium claims that the figure is actually nearer 1:150m.
Last month
Railtrack was widely expected to announce its lack of support for the consortium's project at the end of last month. Observers believe the organisation's silence on the subject indicates that it has come under pressure from the Government.
The large number of lorries that could be lured onto the rails from the MI and M6 corridors make the project an exciting one—not least for Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott who has backed the scheme in principle. Failure to proceed would bring acute political embarrassment to a Government publicly committed to shifting large volumes of freight onto rail.
On top of its political arm-twisting, the Government also has the financial power to soften the cost to Railtrack: if it goes ahead, the scheme will require the largest ever railfreight grant.
Railtrack now says it is "talking through the alternatives" for potential road/rail schemes with the Government.
Railtrack's preferred option is the preparation of tunnels for a system of 9ft6in deepsea containers running on Euro-sized rail wagons.
It believes the cost of enlarging tunnels on 1,300 miles of track for container traffic is similar to that for the extra work required to accommodate 4m-high trailers on 500 miles of the network.
Pubic subsidy
But as a Railtrack spokesper. son admits: "We are inclined to support the 9ft 6in project but it's not a decision Railtrack can make because these things won't fly without a public subsidy."
Critics strongly dispute Railtrack's claim that the fullheight trailer scheme would not attract much more traffic than the container operation. They say container traffic is a specialised activity and is not comparable to the consortium's aim of attracting semi-trailers off the motorways.
The milk co-operative Milk Marque agrees. "Nine containers are no goo( we need a piggybac don," says distributior Pat Williams.
Consortium chairrr Berkeley is not about tt He has put a submissi House of Commons T Select Committee, as study the issue.
This week he hopes lawyers about begin process of taking Rai the Regulator.
Railtrack is expt defend itself vigorous] ing that rail freight vol rising at 14%—leavim waiting for the out many months.