Parcels traffic

It’s a shame that Sir John Armitt sees no future for parcels being sent by rail ( RAIL 874).

Sadly, this kind of blinkered, short-sighted thinking is symptomatic of so many Government departments, and the reason that so many rail projects take so long to reach fruition.

Over the next 20 to 30 years, the whole way we move people and goods about is likely to be totally transformed.

Already some delivery companies are looking at ways to move away from the standard ‘man in white van’ model to other, greener methods of distribution, especially in built-up areas.

Autonomous electric vehicles may well become the norm, and the concept of using one driver and a 12-litre diesel engine to move less than 40 tonnes up a motorway may well seem as outdated as flying across the Channel in a balloon!

All this means that more localised, rail-served distribution centres may be needed to handle parcels and other non-bulk traffic.

A digital railway will allow more and better use of train paths, so that more trains (freight, parcels and passenger) can be fitted onto the network. It can all work and be more efficient than the present system if the right people have the vision to make it work.

It’s true that parcels don’t tweet, but the senders and receivers certainly do. I believe that Sir John Armitt will, in the long term, be shown to be wrong in his assertion that parcels have no future on rail.

Paul Putnam, Honeystreet

Yes, it would be great to see parcels trains once more, but Sir John Armitt is quite right ( RAIL 874).

When I was a booking clerk, our debits (takings) for passenger tickets and Passenger Train Parcels were similar. But while passengers arrived and departed unaided, for parcels traffic we had two road motors, each with driver and van man.

Don Rowland, Whitchurch