How we can keep freight trains running during coronavirus crisis
It’s a changed landscape out there but trains still have a big part to play to help offset the climate emergency, writes David Spaven
elping freight to move by rail might not seem an obvious part of the country’s response to the coronavirusemergency.butscotlanddepends on freight trains for key inward supplies and a wide range of exports – and it is reassuring that Transport Scotland is responding positively to the rail freight sector’s call to ensure that the network remains open for key freight movements and that freight trains are being prioritised in operational planning.
To date, some train services have been adversely affected by the slowdown in global freight, but others – such as those linking supermarket National Distribution Centres in the West Midlands of England with rail hubs in Central Scotland – are seeing increased demand.
As the situation develops, the rail freight sector will do all it can to provide additional services, and we have identified actions which are urgently needed to ensure continued operations – not least ensuring that rail freight staff are placed within the list of key workers, accessing emergency school places and childcare, enabling them to continue working. Much-needed measures to support the financial viability of the privatesector train operators include:
● Temporary changes to the UK and Scottish Governments’ “Mode Shift Revenue Support” scheme to ensure viability of services, in particular where services are not able to be fully loaded but still convey vital supplies
● Suspension of Network Rail’s track access charges to enable freight operators to quickly respond to customer priorities and support critical services which may not be viable in their own right.
While we all hope that the coronavirus crisis is “only” a short-term problem, the ongoing climate emergency demands not just immediate urgent action, but also a continuing focus over the coming decades if we are to avoid environmental catastrophe.
There is no doubt that the Scottish Government’s massive road-building programme is significantly hampering efforts to switch freight from truck to train, and a major change of direction is needed if we are to reap the benefits of rail freight’s substantially lower climate impact – cutting CO2 emissions by up to 76 per cent compared to road haulage.
So, what are the key rail enhancements required to create a competitive “level playing field” between road haulage and rail freight?
The modernisation of strategic Anglo-scottish route corridors is fundamental to unlocking the potential for rail freight to better serve domestic and export markets. Amongst the upgrades needed are lengthened overtaking loops on the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines to accommodate 775-metre freight trains – the equivalent of more than 40 lorry loads in a single movement.
But rail freight cannot prosper simply by concentrating on the Angloscottish lines. Upgrading key feeder routes within Scotland is crucial, and some of the obvious targets are:
● Early electrification of the routes from Central Scotland to Aberdeen and Inverness – speeding up transits, improving route capacity and further cutting carbon emissions compared to road haulage
● Long-overdue enhancement of the largely single-track Highland Main Line from Perth to Inverness, with longer crossing loops and more double track allowing rail freight to increase the capacity of each container train from 20 to 28 containers. Improved rail routes are essential, but realising their potential depends in part on the creation of new rail freight terminals to serve currently neglected regions. Amongst the priorities should be:
● Dundee – one of the largest cities in Britain with no rail freight facilities (indeed, there are none in the whole of Tayside)
● Speyside – re-opened terminals at Keith and/or Elgin are needed to allow rail freight to help cut down on the 50,000 long-distance whisky lorry trips on the A9 annually.
● Direct rail access to key whisky industry sites, such as Cameron Bridge in Fife (the largest grain distillery in Europe) and Cambus / Blackgrange near Alloa (the largest bonded warehouse site in Europe)
● Bathgate – serving one of Scotland’s major concentrations of Regional Distribution Centres, bringing in retail goods from suppliers worldwide.
To realise this low-carbon vision we need to see a coherent and holiscore
tic response from Scottish Government in its overall transport response to the climate emergency. And so, in concluding my final Friends of the Scotsman article – I retire from the Rail Freight Group in a few weeks’ time – I make no apologies for returning to a regular theme. The big symbolic test of the Scottish Government’s commitment to change will be whether it continues to back the £6,000 million+ dualling of the A9 and A96 roads, linking Inverness with Perth and Aberdeen – or finally admits the parallel, largely singletrack, inter-city railways desperately need the same single-minded drive to bring them into the 21st century. David Spaven, Scottish Representative, Rail Freight Group