Progress and potential at Port of Liverpool
Liverpool’s eminence as a port went through a period of decline until 1982, but since then tonnages have steadily increased. DAVID CLOUGH charts the rail-related developments
Liverpool owes its growth to the maritime trade that began to flourish during the Industrial Revolution. Prior to this Chester, on the River Dee, had been the main port for the region.
In order to accommodate larger ships, Liverpool built the world’s first commercial wet dock in 1715. Proximity to Lancashire’s industrial heartland facilitated rapid growth during the 19th century, as the point of entry for cotton and other raw materials and as the place of export for coal and a wide range of finished goods. For a time, Liverpool claimed the mantle of the UK’s pre-eminent port. It also held a leading position for passenger shipping lines, such as Cunard.
The need for efficient transportation of goods proved to be the incentive for building the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. As port facilities grew with the construction of additional docks northwards from the Pier Head along the River Mersey, so the railway companies vied with each other for the traffic.
During the second half of the 19th century, four railway companies laid in branches to eight goods stations to service two miles of docks. Some even operated local passenger trains into small stations there - Liverpool Riverside, adjacent to the Pier Head and Princes Dock, was the link to the liners for long-distance travellers.
Local passenger services eventually succumbed in the face of competition from the road network. The route along the Bootle Branch from Edge Hill to Alexandra Dock survived until May 31 1948, although occasional troop trains ran into the neighbouring Canada Dock into the 1980s because it was convenient for the Northern Ireland ferry service.
During the 1960s virtually all the BR freight stations in the north docks had been axed, and the last survivor (Canada Dock) closed on September 3 1982. Thereafter, rail traffic into the north docks travelled through the former Alexandra Dock freight yard and across Regent Road onto the dock lines.
Despite the loss of traffic to road in the 1960s, 1971 marked the low point for cargo passing through Liverpool. The fall-off in railborne shipments also led to the curtailment of the Mersey Docks & Harbour Company’s (MDHC) own dock shunters.
Reflecting the changing pattern of freight shipment, a container terminal was built in the early 1970s at Seaforth. In 1988 coal for Fiddlers Ferry Power Station (near Warrington) began to be imported through the nearby Gladstone Dock. This was a switch from MDHC’s Great Float on the opposite bank of the Mersey, where trains departed from Birkenhead Cavendish Yard.
Olive Mount chord gave an east to north link between the Liverpool and Manchester route and the Bootle branch. But in 1988 it closed and was removed following a fire (caused by vandals) in Edge Lane Junction signal box. Decline in rail-borne dock activity meant the cost of repairing the box, or altering the signalling to allow remote operation, could not be justified.
However, reopening the chord was a key proposal in the Merseyside Local Transport Plan, in order to give better access from the docks to the West Coast Main Line ( WCML). Work started on January 20 2008, with reopening on December 14 of the same year -
I am positive about the terminal’s future capability. From the start of operations last October up to January 11, we have serviced 841 trains. Simon Watson, Senior Manager - Biomass Operations, Peel Ports
at a cost of £ 8 million.
Just as with London’s docklands, in the 1980s port dereliction began to change to redevelopment for alternative uses. This left the Port of Liverpool comprising the passenger ferry and cargo facilities downstream from Princes Dock, close to Pier Head. Upstream, the Port of Garston was always a separate entity from the Port of Liverpool and is now operated by Associated British Ports.
In the early 1990s Powergen (the owner of Fiddlers Ferry at the time) built Liverpool Bulk Terminal at Gladstone Dock, which could accommodate vessels discharging 50,000 tonnes at a time.
In early 2012 this was further developed by E.ON to include facilities to concurrently handle biomass, along with coal. The upgrade was to supply E.ON’s Ironbridge power station as an industry testbed for biomass.
By now, Peel Ports Group had acquired MDHC in 2005.
The rapid winding down in coal-fired electricity generation during the past two years, along with the closure of Ironbridge power station in December 2015, has resulted in the effective elimination of this traffic at Liverpool Bulk Terminal. The last shipment of coal was in March 2015, and of biomass to Ironbridge in December 2015.
However, despite the downturn in demand, the terminal retains its ability to provide a vessel-to-train loading facility, should new suitable flows be identified.
And during the past decade, Drax Power Station in Yorkshire has progressively developed its supply chains to handle biomass, which consists of wood pellets (a waste product of sawmills). Several supply chains have been established by Drax, with the North American supply using the Port of Liverpool.
To facilitate this North American supply chain, Peel Ports has invested in the construction of a £100m biomass handling facility adjacent to Gladstone Dock. Storage is in three silos that are 40 metres high and which can each hold 35,000 tonnes. The facility can handle up to three million tonnes of biomass per annum, making Liverpool a significant player in the supply chain.
Construction of the biomass terminal began in January 2015. The first train supplying Drax ran on October 26 2015 during an interim operational phase, using an adjacent dock and mobile harbour grab cranes.
Phase 2 of the project, completed in August 2016, entails vessel unloading using Archimedes Screw technology, and the product sent directly to silo storage for subsequent loading to trains.
Andy Wijeyewardena, Senior Manager - Rail Operations at Peel Ports, is confident that the present throughput of cargo can be increased as Phase 2’s ship-to-train cargo handling is fully commissioned.
He tells RAIL that while timetabling capacity to provide trans-Pennine freight paths is currently at a premium, Drax, Network Rail and GB Railfreight (GBRf) have jointly been able to identify viable paths that would make a transition towards further biomass throughput at Liverpool seamless.
Simon Watson, Senior Manager - Biomass Operations at Peel Ports, explains the rail-side operational arrangements. Currently, there are two types of wagon in use, both with magnetic operation of the roof doors.
The new Drax wagons (a radical new-build design, specifically to transport biomass) have a higher payload, and a train of 25 wagons carries up to 1,700 tonnes. The weight of the biomass can vary, depending on natural variances in product density.
Older GBRf wagons, initially based on a coal wagon design, are also used occasionally. However, these are of lower capacity, and a rake has a typical payload of 1,100 tonnes.
A GBRf Class 66 draws the empty rake through the loading facility, where loading is semi-automated, and then the wagons pass back through again to be weighed. Currently, a second ‘66’ is attached to the other end of the train for the run out of the port.
Watson adds: “I am positive about the terminal’s future capability. From the start of operations last October up to January 11, we have serviced 841 trains.” He is confident that nine daily trains can be accommodated, adding that GBRf uses Tuebrook Sidings at Edge Hill as a useful staging point. A few trains from Drax or the port stable there, in order to ensure a smooth flow of rakes into the port and to the power station.
However, achieving the most effective use of train paths does present challenges for the biomass trains departing the port.
Regent Road and its associated level crossing, north of the dock entrance adjacent to Nelson Street, has been closed to all road traffic since around 2002. But signalling systems, a relic from the fully operational level crossing, mean that departing trains are still required to stop here, until given permission to proceed from MDHC track onto Network Rail metals via use of a driver’s ‘plunger’ and ‘white light’.
There is a 10mph restriction around the sharp curve across Regent Road. And once across the former Alexandra Dock goods yard, trains face a 1-in-60 climb through Alexandra Dock tunnel to Bootle Junction, where the Boot le branch comes alongside the Liverpool-Southport passenger line.
After this initial climb, the branch drops down into Oriel Road tunnel. But given the length of the biomass trains, this means that the front of the train is on a falling gradient while its rear is still on the 1-in-60 rising.
After this initial climb, the branch drops down into Oriel Road tunnel. But given the length of the biomass trains, this means that the front of the train is on a falling gradient while its rear is still on the 1-in-60 rising. At this stage, the current 20mph speed restriction on the Bootle branch becomes problematic, as drivers are required to control their speed while the rear portion of the train is still ascending the climb to Bootle Junction.
A series of rail infrastructure improvements are planned, funded by the Strategic Freight Network, to improve access and egress from the Port and to improve line speeds on the Bootle branch.
GBRf has found the best approach to be a top-and-tail arrangement, although this means trains have to run to Tuebrook Sidings, where they reverse and the former trailing locomotive goes forward to Drax unaccompanied.
The trains then run along the Liverpool to Manchester route as far as Earlestown, where they head south along the WCML to Hartford. From here trains go via Northwich, Stockport and Ashton Moss to reach Brewery Junction, just beyond Miles Platting. Some trains take the alternative route via Runcorn and join the WCML at Weaver Junction, but this offers no advantage in time.
Such a circuitous route adds two hours onto the journey, but is needed because a single ‘66’ cannot climb the 1-in-47 of Miles Platting Bank. By contrast, empty trains usually pass Brewery Junction, descend the bank and run through Manchester Victoria before reaching Liverpool’s outskirts. No doubt for operational reasons, some empty workings follow the routes of the loaded services.
While resolving the problem of Miles Platting Bank is outside Peel Ports’ jurisdiction, the company (in conjunction with Network Rail) is planning to revise the Regent Road crossing curve in order to achieve better operational efficiency for all rail hauliers. A further revision of existing Network Rail signalling is planned, which would enable loaded trains to get a better run at the infamous climb and curve to Bootle Junction.
In the longer term (at least ten to 20 years), demand for rail and development within the Port may trigger a requirement to offer additional access and egress by rail. Speculatively, this may lead to the redevelopment of the currently abandoned route through Canada Dock goods yard.
From here, the track bed to Atlantic Dock Junction on the Bootle branch is still in situ, and reinstating its connection to the Bootle branch may become viable. The benefit would be elimination of the present difficult section to Bootle Junction.
In the meantime, biomass is not the only Port cargo transported by rail. European Metal Recycling operates a recycling facility at West Alexandra Dock, while DB Cargo has the capability to operate up to six trains per week transporting scrap metal from Swindon and the Midlands. Scrap rails traffic from Network Rail local depots has been a further recent development, and is also received up to once a week. The metal is then exported.
A weekly working by DB Cargo brings steel slab from Tinsley to the port for export to the USA. Steel products, both import and (crucially) export, is an area where Peel Ports has identified potential for future growth. By its very nature, finished metals is clearly an area where rail haulage can continue to add value to the supply chain.
In the container sector, re-establishing rail services to its Seaforth Container Terminal is a key priority for Peel Ports. Incumbent operator Freightliner ceased rail operations out of Seaforth in 2009, due to a perceived lack of
demand. The operator has a facility at Garston (upstream from the Port of Liverpool), and currently moves containers via a road shunt between that port and Garston to link to its rail network.
On December 23 2015, GBRf operated an intermodal service on behalf of Peel Ports and Maritime Transport, from the latter’s Birmingham Intermodal Freight Terminal at Birch Coppice (15 miles north east of Birmingham), to the Port of Liverpool. The train comprised 66728 hauling eight IFA ‘Q80’ flat wagons, and was run to assess the terminal’s operational readiness to reinstate regular rail traffic. It was deemed to be a success in this regard, but to date no others have run.
Commenting on the trial, GBRf Managing Director John Smith said: “The running of our special Christmas train demonstrates that there are huge intermodal rail freight opportunities that could arise from the Liverpool 2 logistics project, and we will be working with our partners to build awareness among existing and new customers.”
Since then, Peel Ports’ £400m investment in Liverpool 2, a deep-water container terminal, opened in November 2016. It is capable of handling over 95% of vessels in the global fleet, and has greatly increased the port’s potential for growth in containers.
Today, more than 90% of deep-sea container vessels enter the UK from the south of the country, yet 60% of the traffic is destined for the North. Peel Ports aims to transform UK logistics by allowing cargo to be delivered closer to its market.
Referring to Liverpool 2, Peel Ports Chief Operating Officer Gary Hodgson tells RAIL: “The ongoing investments and growth at the port, both in quayside and landside infrastructure and in turn onward connectivity, further cements Peel Ports’ commitment to our partners and customers in delivering a new multi-modal solution to the UK.”
Capacity of the existing road network in the area remains a challenge, and so moving as much freight as possible by rail is clearly a quick win to reduce congestion and environmental impact.
Although it is not within the Port of Liverpool, Rail Manager Andy Wijeyewardena outlines discussions that have taken place concerning potential new traffic for Ellesmere Port.
Ellesmere Port is on the Manchester Ship Canal, which is also owned by Peel Ports. It is close to Eastham Lock (the point where the Canal enters the Mersey), and also the Vauxhall car plant. Until the winding-down of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station, coal was imported through Ellesmere Port’s Manisty Wharf rail head, but this ceased in June 2015.
A trial took place in January 2016 whereby two automotive trains were brought from DB Cargo’s Barking Eurohub, transporting automotive units between GM’s plant in Ellesmere Port and Rüsselsheim (Germany). Both trial trains were a success, and proved the operational concept of automotive-by-rail.
Discussions have since taken place concerning use of the facility for the export of cars. In the meantime, the Manisty Wharf railhead continues to be ready to cope with any potential demand from other rail freight sectors that may wish to take advantage of its tri-modal capability.
Clearly not only the city of Liverpool, but also its port, is on the up. Driving around the docks, virtually all of the 19th century buildings have been razed and replaced by modern cargo facilities. Peel Ports has demonstrably nailed its colours to the mast financially, in a show of faith in the future.
More than 90% of deep-sea container vessels enter the UK from the south of the country, yet 60% of the traffic is destined for the North. Peel Ports aims to transform UK logistics by allowing cargo to be delivered closer to its market.