Platooning is dangerous

While I was a member of the Conservative Transport Group, the chairman telephoned me at length to obtain some advice about motorway ‘platooning’.

The advice I gave him was that the concept was dangerous, and that the public would not accept it on the grounds of safety. The same applies to self-driving vehicles.

It is an inexactitude when they state that there will be a driver in each HGV in the platoon. The real truth is that only the first vehicle would have a driver, the others would run unstaffed.

The Government sees this concept as a short cut to the railway capacity issue. The passenger railway is full to bursting, so the quickest way to increase capacity without building more lines is to remove the freight traffic and transfer it to the motorways.

The real solution is to build a second guided mode network on or alongside the motorways. This form of words is intentional to leave the modal concept again, but the point is that the vehicles must be fixed together and guided on a track.

The motorways will be underused when the majority of cars are electric, as no one will think it worthwhile travelling long distances when they are going to have to stop for 40 minutes every 100 miles or so, for a recharge.

On an unrelated issue, Minehead is campaigning for a main line service to Taunton. This can only come if there is government money to assist the West Somerset Railway to increase capacity. The issues are:

■ A fourth running track on the north side of the main line between Norton Fitzwarren to Taunton station.

■ Add track to the two unused terminus platforms on the north side of the west end of the station.

■ Double track from Norton Fitzwarren to Bishops Lydeard.

■ A new loop at Stogumber station.

■ Double-track running as two single tracks from Dunster to Minehead, one track on the Southside to Minehead station - this lines up with the level crossing and one track to the new platform running over the unused bridge over the river on the north side.

■ A new platform east of the level crossing on the north side, to terminate the main line service to Taunton. This will give direct access to the Butlin’s Holiday Camp.

■ The Government to pay for the extra costs of staffing the signal boxes, to keep the line open for longer each day and at times when the steam railway services are not running.

■ There are also track costs due to the extra traffic. Mike Barrett, Taunton