Rail freight leaders criticise Adonis over delay tweets
FREIGHT chiefs have hit back at Andrew Adonis after the National Infrastructure Commission chairman wrongly accused late-running freight trains of causing delays and suggested ‘platooning’ lorries should take rail’s place in transporting cargo.
Adonis, who was Labour’s Secretary of State for Transport between October 2008 and June 2009, tweeted on November 22 that he was 15 minutes late into Liverpool Lime Street because of a delayed freight train, suggesting that freight on the railways “is hugely disruptive of passenger traffic” during the day. It was later confirmed that his train was delayed by a signal failure at Runcorn.
Two days later, Adonis claimed he was “stuck at Leamington Spa” owing to a points failure and a “slow-moving freight train”, adding he is “interested in motorway freight platooning to get trucks off rail”.
DB Cargo UK Chief Executive Hans-Georg Werner told RAIL: “I am disappointed by the recent comments of Lord Adonis. He needs to realise that rail freight is actually the solution to the problems on our roads, and that passenger and freight operations are both needed on our rail network to keep Britain running.
“Rail freight needs support so that it can continue to deliver benefits and improve its offerings. To take freight services from our railways would be a disastrous decision. For every service removed over 70 lorries would be needed to transport the same load. It doesn’t make a difference if these lorries travel in platoon or at night, they will still increase the traffic on our roads and pollution levels in the UK.”
Freight is at the forefront of Adonis’ mind. It was announced in the Budget that the National Infrastructure Commission is to produce a report on the future of freight for the Government. In the wide-ranging brief, Adonis’ team has been asked to assess the impact that freight has on the country’s emissions levels, as well as making recommendations on the future of freight infrastructure and regulation.
An interim report is to be published by autumn 2018 with a final report due in spring 2019.
“The NIC report very much reflects the views of its proplatooning author, and has done a good job in provoking debate,” said Intermodality Managing Director Nick Gallop.
“The NIC freight study will no doubt address the fact that, despite the use of ‘freight train’ as the go-to excuse by the TOCs for delays, the evidence shows otherwise. It doesn’t matter how long the platoon of trucks might be, if the motorway network is gridlocked due to the sheer volume of traffic (which would be exacerbated by switching freight from rail to road), the platoon won’t be going anywhere.”
Rail Freight Group Executive Director Maggie Simpson echoed the sentiments of other key players.
“The National Infrastructure Commission study into the future of freight is important and has a strong remit,” she told RAIL.
“However, given recent comments on rail freight by the Commission and Lord Adonis, we are concerned to ensure that the study is conducted fairly and impartially.”
The NIC did not comment to RAIL, but on November 25, Adonis tweeted: “RAIL FANS: I know you think it’s treason for me to say rail freight might be a less good idea than overnight motorway truck platooning - but hold horses! We need this to be evidence-based, not emotional ‘rail good, road bad.’ @NatInfraCom examing [sic]. Consultation paper in New Year.”