Ports boss calls for vital rail investment
Aug 8 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
TEESPORT operator PD Ports is ramping up pressure on the Government to make multi million pound improvements to the East Coast Mainline.
At the same time, it is gathering support for a more modest investment - partially private -financed - in a freight rail link from the port to the national network.
As the port owner prepared for work to begin next week on a Tesco supershed - the second retail distribution centre to open on Teesside after Asda - group development director Martyn Pellew challenged Government to meet its environmental pledges.
“Considering that many strategic rail routes throughout the UK are unsuitable for transporting today’s modern, taller containers, we must seriously start to question the Government’s commitment to reducing the country’s carbon emissions,” he said in an open letter to national newspapers.
Commenting on the letter, he said it was just the start of a campaign on which the Northern Gateway project for a deep sea container port, due to open in 2011/12, depends.
The £300m Northern Gateway is projected to generate 10 new rail freight services travelling to and from the port each day, ferrying goods to Scotland, the North-west and Yorkshire.
“The project is being manned up and getting ready to let contracts,” said Mr Pellew. “It’s going to be two years in construction, but by that time we would like to see at least two extra trains, possibly to Scotland and Yorkshire. The East Coast Mainline will not be ready. They (the Department of Transport) are already planning beyond 2014 and we are not in it.
“We have got to get this department going. We are trying to get on their shopping list.”
He said the port was aiming to change accepted thinking on the optimum length of journey by rail for freight. The port’s anticipated distribution area is 70 miles to Leeds, 40 miles to Newcastle and 120 miles to Manchester.
“We want to see the Government recognise that what’s important is to get railways viable and productive on the shorter routes.”
He said the service from Teesport could be run by a variety of independent rail freight operators. National haulier Eddie Stobbart recently entered the rail freight market.
According to a recent report commissioned by the port from Network Rail, the cheapest route from the port to the mainline would be via Darlington, at £3.5m.
He said there was no reason why both Tesco and Asda should not invest in the line.
Tesco has already transferred some of its national haulage to rail, while Asda said it had already reduced road miles by 25% since January 2005 and aimed to cut another 15% by the end of 2009.
“The road mile reduction have been achieved via a number of actions - particularly moving freight to rail but also via our increasing use of local hubs as part of our distribution network,” the multiple said.
“Teesport in particular has helped us save 2.5million road miles per year.”
