Barge on
Page 10
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE RIVER THAMES is greatly under-used and could relieve much of the congestion from the roads of London, said Leonard Faram, director of the Transport on Water Association.
Also present was The Mercantile Lighterage Company Ltd, representing the views of the Association of Master Lightermen and the National Waterways Transport Association.
Trade on the Thames has been in decline since 1964. A mere two million tons of freight were moved on the river by lighter in 1980.
"Long stretches of the bank are derelict," Mr Faram pointed out, "but there are now incentives to move back into the capital to bring much-needed investment into the depressed areas of the City."
A total lorry ban in the Greater London area would cause the Thames to become the major supply route for the capital, he said. "Traffic to and from Tilbury docks could either use the M25 orbital motorway or be carried through London by barge." Goods to be taken into London could be moved into the centre of London by barge and then distributed at depots along the river banks.