NIC: Adonis’ departure won’t delay freight report

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has rebuffed suggestions that the resignation of chairman Lord Adonis will have an impact on the forthcoming ‘future of freight’ report.

Adonis quit his post in late 2017, with the independent government body appointing Sir John Armitt as its interim leader until a permanent replacement is found.

An interim report on freight, to be authored by NIC Commissioner Bridget Rosewell, is due to be published by autumn of this year, with the final report due in spring 2019.

“I can advise that we don’t anticipate it [Lord Adonis leaving his post] will have an impact on the timing of the report,” an NIC spokesman told RAIL.

Adonis had been increasingly vocal about freight on the railways in the past few months. At one stage, after one of his journeys was delayed by signalling issues, he suggested that platooning lorries should take the place of rail in transporting cargo. This stance jarred the industry ( RAIL 841) and resulted in Rosewell reassuring freight chiefs that the NIC has an “open mind” towards moving cargo by rail ( RAIL 842).

Nick Gallop, Managing Director of Intermodality, criticised Adonis for taking “off-piste excursions into other areas of public life, such as criticism of university vice-chancellors’ remuneration arrangements”, during the latter stages of chairmanship.

Gallop told RAIL this undermined Adonis’ work on improving infrastructure delivery and “led to the NIC issuing a report which appeared to dismiss rail freight”.

He added: “Sir John Armitt provides a very solid pair of hands to manage the NIC in the interim. Let us hope the Government can find someone with suitable profile and gravitas to lead the NIC in due course, at a time when rail industry leaders and the DfT seem incapable of properly promoting the industry.”