Britain’s railways are going through a tumultuous period, with fundamental questions being asked about the way they are owned and managed. Further uncertainty is added by the political chaos of Brexit and the appointment of a new Prime Minister, who may have different priorities than his predecessor. And could a General Election be that far away?  The Rail Reform Group is a small network of rail professionals. We are non-party political and not linked to any corporate group. We&rsquo

The public in Bristol will be asked next month to choose between a class C charging clean air zone (CAZ) or a diesel car ban to ensure the city complies with legal limits of nitrogen dioxide. The class C CAZ would see charges imposed on non-compliant taxis, private hire vehicles, vans, buses, coaches and lorries. It would be complemented by a local scrappage scheme for older vehicles, actions to reduce bus and taxi emissions, a bus lane on the M32, and a diesel vehicle ban on Upper Maudlin Stre

The winners of the 2019 everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards have been revealed. Over the past 12 years the everywoman awards have championed women in the transport and logistics industries, showcasing and celebrating the sectors’ most exceptional role models. The winners were announced at Grosvenor House in London on 13 June. While many of the winners were drawn from the passenger transport, infrastructure and freight sectors, the world of walking was also recognised at this y

Modelling World 2019, 4 & 5 June, Birmingham: Supported delegate places for students Our event partner Jacobs is kindly sponsoring 10 full delegate places for students who are interested in sharing ideas about the key issues to be discussed at Modelling World. Please apply, by 28 May, with a CV and top two preferences for morning and afternoon sessions to: juliana.orourke@landor.co.uk Jacobs will ask all student ambassadors to gather at lunchtime at the event reception desk for a group ph

The Government has refused planning permission for a  rail-served freight terminal on green belt land in south-east London. Roxhill Developments Ltd wanted to build the facility adjacent to the Southeastern train depot at Slade Green in Erith, on the boundary of the London Borough of Bexley and Dartford Borough Council in Kent. In 2007 the Government approved an application for a strategic rail freight interchange (SRFI) on the land, in recognition that there was an absence of such facili

Banning diesel freight trains could worsen inter-urban road congestion and lead to thousands of extra lorry kilometres in London, according to a study for the National Infrastructure Commission. The NIC has recommended completely decarbonising the road and rail freight sectors by 2050 to support the Government’s Climate Change Act targets (LTT 26 Apr). It is confident that batteries or hydrogen fuel cell technology will enable  road freight to decarbonise by this date but sees less p

Local authorities are pressing EDF Energy to commit to a rail-based strategy for bringing in materials for the construction of the proposed Sizewell C nuclear power station.  Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council had been pressing for a marine- or rail-based strategy, and have voiced disappointment at EDF’s recent decision to abandon the  possibility of the sea-based approach. The company says a marine-led strategy is “not feasible due to the impacts

Northamptonshire County Council is urging transport secretary Chris Grayling to block proposals for two new strategic rail freight interchanges (SRFI) on land south of Northampton.  The Planning Inspectorate is currently holding an examination  into the Development Consent Order (DCO) application for the Northampton Gateway SRFI. The hearing is due to end on 9 April.  The separate Rail Central application is at an earlier stage, with an examination of the DCO application due to

Advances in technology may provide new opportunities in metropolitan railway finance, says Joseph Potvin, Executive Director, Xalgorithms Foundation It is common knowledge that commercial and residential properties within an easy walk of metropolitan train stations are in relatively greater demand, which tends to be reflected in their significantly higher lease and sale values. This mobility premium has long been the basis for so-called Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) initiatives.&nbs

A few years ago, Future Systems Catapult and Grimshaw Architects ran a competition to ask ‘What new civic function might a rail transportation hub play in the next 10-25 years?’ Participants were asked how station operators could dynamically re-direct travellers around disruption, how neighbouring businesses could be increasingly integrated with station environments, and what the service function around urban, suburban and community rail stations would be. Such is the time lag betwe

Kent County Council has released more details of contingency plans being put in place to handle freight in the event of a no-deal Brexit on 29 March. The council says ‘no-deal’  could see the county having to cope with holding up to 10,000 HGVs on a routine basis. “Such congestion could exceed that of previous incidents experienced in Kent, including Operation Stack in 2015, which resulted in almost 7,000 HGVs contained on the M20 in Kent,” policy advisers David Fir

A project exploring ways of developing zero emission heavy goods vehicles is being carried out by TRL. This project – due for completion by February 2019 - will underpin one of the main freight goals within the Government’s Road to Zero report, to significantly reduce carbon and air quality emissions from long-haul HGV movements by 2040. TRL, the centre for innovation in transport and mobility, is aiming to identify and appraise the potential zero emission HGV technologies along wit

Police forces in England and Wales are intensifying their use of HGV tractor units to enforce the law on major roads, with drivers of commercial vehicles being targeted in particular. Highways England acquired a derestricted tractor unit in 2015 ago for “Operation Tramline”. The unit was fitted with cameras that recorded the all-round view and could exceed the normal speed limit for HGVs on dual carriageways. The unit’s deployment by police forces around England resulted in ab

Liverpool City Region's Mayor, Steve Rotheram, speaking at Smarter Travel LIVE!, last week, referred to the Office of Road and Rail’s report into a summer of rail chaos which found “systematic failures from government, Network Rail and the rail operators” leading to collapsed services and missed chances to avoid disruption. “Can you honestly imagine chaos on that scale being allowed to happen in London and the South East without major government intervention,” he as

We all agree on the need to improve air quality, and that the future will see a huge shift away from petrol and diesel power in road transport. But the policy debate, in terms of air quality, also needs to improve. There’s plenty of pressure: this week the Prime Minister met the motor industry, worried about Brexit but also environmental hostility; local authorities are imposing controversial ultra-low emission zones; and, in Brussels, the vehicle manufacturers’ group, ACEA, is at l

The government has announced £2m to support the uptake of e-cargo bikes. The funding is designed to help pave the way for electric delivery vehicles to replace older vans, improving both the environment and reduce congestion. The announcement is part of the international Zero Emission Vehicle Summit being held in Birmingham this week. The event brings together policy makers, industry experts and opinion formers from around globe to tackle carbon emissions and to explore ways to impro

Brexit could bring an unexpected boost to the Channel Tunnel rail freight market if lorries experience lengthy delays at ports, a report for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) suggests.  Currently, rail and road freight  to/from the EU crosses the Channel without the need for customs declarations. Trains are, however, subject to technical and security inspections at Dollands Moor in Kent and near Calais in France.  In a report for the RDG, SNC Lavalin says rail freight could become m

Clean air zones and low emission zones, safer lorry schemes, alternative fuels, Brexit... Central and local government is presenting the road freight sector with a plateful of policy challenges, making life busy for industry bodies such as the Freight Transport Association. “The workload is certainly increasing greatly, particularly in the areas of the environment and Brexit,” says Natalie Chapman, the FTA’s head of urban policy and the South of England.  Think about the

The London Borough of Enfield has fitted purpose-built safety devices to its vehicle fleet to prevent fatal collisions with cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists. The panels were designed by a former police officer who attended many collisions during his time with the Metropolitan Police. The PeoplePanels are designed to prevent people from going under a lorry. They fitted to the sides of lorries, with prominent warning signage and significantly reducing the risk of injury during a collision

The Scottish Government is awaiting the findings of DfT research into the effects of raising the speed limit for lorries in England and Wales before deciding whether to follow suit. In April 2015 the speed limits for HGVs over 7.5 tonnes were increased in England and Wales from 40 to 50mph on single carriageways and from 50 to 60mph on dual carriageways.  The limits in Scotland remain 40mph and 50mph on single and dual carriageways respectively, except on the A9 between Perth and Invernes

The National Infrastructure Commission is asking consultants to assess the benefits of shifting freight from road to rail, and from rail to road.   The study forms part of the Commission’s Future of Freight project ordered by Chancellor Philip Hammond last autumn (LTT 24 Nov 17). An interim report will be published this autumn and a final report next spring. The managing congestion study, with a budget of £80,000, will examine issues including: • how freight can reduce i

Network Rail has rethought the way it will allocate fixed costs to train operators in the next control period (CP6 2019/20-2023/24) after draft proposals generated a backlash from funders of regional rail services and the rail freight sector.   Draft proposals, published for consultation last September, would have seen the costs apportioned to Northern Rail jump 50 per cent, from £263m to £393m a year, and the costs of Merseyrail jump 64 per cent, from £32m to £52m.

The 36 finalists in the 2018 FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards have been announced. Now in its eleventh year, the awards programme celebrates the achievements of women in the UK’s transport and logistics industry.  This year’s finalists include women working for transport organisations including Heathrow Express, Merseytravel, Network Rail, Transport for London and West Midlands Trains. The UK transport and logistics industry employs around 2.4 million people.

As a major supermarket joins the trend for using electric cargo bikes for its delivery services, changes in general travel trends need much more careful scrutiny, say researchers. Increases in levels of home deliveries, and the rapid growth in light van traffic, for example, are poorly understood. In April this year, Sainsbury’s began its innovative new trial of grocery delivery services by electric cargo bike. A fleet of five zero emission bikes is making deliveries across South London,

A virtual reality app designed to raise driver awareness of blind spots on motorways and ‘A’ roads is being offered by Highways England.  The free app can be tried on a smartphone attached to a pair of cardboard goggles to allow drivers to experience blind spot scenarios. The scenarios include: mirror adjustment; identifying vehicles in blind spots; joining a motorway from a slip road; overtaking; and tailgating. John Walford, commercial vehicle incident prevention team leade

New biofuel targets are designed to double the use of renewable fuels in the UK transport sector within the next 15 years, cutting the sector’s reliance on imported diesel fuel. Changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) compel owners of transport fuel who supply at least 450,000 litres a year or more, to make sure that the mix between fuel types is at least 12.4% biofuel by 2032. Currently the industry, which supplies fuel to transport companies such as haulage firms and

The Campaign for Better Transport has announced it is looking to appoint a new chief executive office to replace Stephen Joseph, who will be stepping down at the end of Autumn. Joseph was appointed executive director of Transport 2000 in 1988, the same year Michael Palin was appointed President, and received an OBE in 1996 for services to transport and the environment. Transport 2000 changed its name to Campaign for Better Transport in 2007. During his 30-year tenure with the charity, Joseph

None of the possible reforms to the HGV road user levy will deliver noticeable benefits for society and ministers should therefore leave the existing system unchanged, the Freight Transport Association has told the DfT.  A consultation on possible reforms to the HGV levy closed at the end of January (LTT 24 Nov 17). The levy was introduced in 2014 as a way of ensuring overseas hauliers make a contribution to the costs of the UK’s roads. Domestic hauliers  pay the levy but are co

New technology which will unlock the potential for electric vehicles to help power people’s homes is being boosted by almost £30 million in government funding. The funding has been awarded to a total of 21 vehicle-to-grid (V2G) projects in the UK, to pay for research and design and development. The aim is to explore and test both vehicle-to-grid technology itself and commercial opportunities, writes electricdrive.com. Projects will demonstrate how the energy stored in the batter

The National Infrastructure Commission has issued a call for evidence for its study into the future of the UK freight sector, ordered by the Chancellor, Philip Hammond (LTT 24 Nov 17).  The Commission poses more than 20 questions, including: • what are the key freight corridors that matter the most? • what investments could deliver the best value for money? • are the benefits of freight captured in transport infrastructure investment planning? • what regulatory and

The achievements of women working in the transport and logistics centre will be recognised by the FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. Currently in its eleventh year, the awards are designed to showcase the role women play in the future of transport and logistics. Maxine Benson

Our ten-year analysis of DfT road safety statistics shows that the ratio of fatal road accidents on minor roads involving heavy good vehicles (Philippa Edmunds) compared with those involving all vehicle types has been climbing year-on-year, demonstrating why a DfT accident investigation unit is needed (‘Accident investigation unit for roads urged to drive down KSIs’ LTT 05 Jan).  Despite only making up five per cent of overall traffic miles, HGVs were almost seven times more li

The liquidation of construction and contracting company Carillion this week sent shockwaves through the transport sector, with some rival companies warning of losses because of their involvement with Carillion in joint infrastructure contracts.  Public sector officials expect Carillion’s work to continue without significant interruption, but some of the specialist subcontractors engaged by Carillion have been plunged into financial difficulties and have started to make staff redundan

The forecast cost of the  M4 Relief Road has increased by £190m to £1.32bn because the original proposals did not include suitable mitigation measures for Newport docks. The opening date for the road has also slipped.   The Welsh Government submitted revised plans to the road’s public inquiry just before Christmas outlining £190m of additional works at Newport docks. The Government hopes this will prompt port owner ABP to drop its objection to the scheme. ABP i

An accident investigation unit should be set up to help reduce the number of road accident fatalities and injuries, the RAC Foundation has told the Government. Foundation director Steve Gooding says the road sector should have a body similar to the accident investigation units that exist for aviation, maritime and rail. Their purpose is not to apportion blame for accidents but instead to identify their cause and recommend steps to avoid repeat incidents. “Unless something different is do

We need to talk about freight and in particular managing road freight transport more efficiently. Heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) only accounted for 5.1 per cent of overall road traffic, doing 17.2 billion vehicles miles in 2016. But they have a disproportionate impact on the road network and other road users because of their scale and weight. For example, in busy road conditions they can take up the space of four passenger car units after their extra braking and manoeuvrability space is allowed for

The National Infrastructure Commission has released more details of its forthcoming prize competition to design roads capable of accommodating driverless vehicles (LTT24 Nov).  As well as road design, the Roads of the Future competition will consider traffic management, and how the rules of the road may need to change.  The competition will be launched in the new year, and is being run by the NIC in conjunction with Highways England and the Government’s innovation agency Innova

Freight traffic should be switched from rail onto lorry platoons, a move that would free up capacity on the rail network for more passenger trains, the Government’s infrastructure adviser, Lord Adonis,  has said. The proposal has caused uproar in the rail freight sector, with operators said to be “hopping mad” at Adonis, the former Labour transport secretary who now chairs the Government’s National Infrastructure Commission (NIC). Operators are concerned that Adonis

A distance-based charging scheme for lorries, that rewards vehicles with the lowest emissions, is being considered by the DfT. The Department has launched a call for evidence on how the existing time-based HGVroad user levy scheme could be reformed to make it more targeted at Government objectives. The evidence call came as the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, issued terms of reference to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) for a study of the UK’s freight sector. Introduced in April

A consultation has opened on a new safety permit for goods vehicles as part of the Mayor’s Direct Vision Standard. Londoners and stakeholders have been invited to give their feedback on a proposed safety standard permit scheme for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). The proposed HGV Safety Permit scheme would require all HGVs over 12 tonnes to hold a permit to operate in London from 2020. Transport for London (TfL) said the specifics of the permit will be developed next year, following th

Transport for London (TfL) has marked the two-year anniversary of the London Freight Enforcement Partnership (LFEP) that works to make London's roads safer by raising compliance standards across the freight industry. The LFEP is a joint partnership between TfL, City of London Police, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and the Metropolitan Police Service that targets dangerously non-compliant drivers, vehicles and operators on London’s roads. The partnership works towards fou

The House of Commons Transport Committee has launched an inquiry looking into whether or not the current system of planning and delivering investment in rail infrastructure. Currently, most rail infrastructure funding in Britain is channeled through Network Rail. The Government funds Network Rail in five-year cyc

Local trains in the north of England and rail freight operators cause a higher proportion of Network Rail’s fixed costs than the current method of cost allocation assumes, according to new analysis for the Government company.   Network Rail is consulting the industry on applying the new cost allocation method, developed by Brockley Consulting, in Control Period 6 (2019/20-2023/24). The method will make the cost of different operations more transparent to public funders of the industr

A proposed Midland Metro line in the West Midlands will include passive provision for freight trains to share the tracks.  The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro route will serve Dudley town centre and the Waterfront/Merry Hill shopping centre (see map).  About 4.2 miles of the  6.7-mile route will be along a disused railway. The original proposals envisaged a double track Metro alignment running alongside a single track for heavy rail. At ‘pinch points’, the alignmen

Transport for London is consulting on plans to ban all end-to-end vehicular traffic – including bicycles – from a section of Oxford Street, central London’s main shopping street.  The proposals cover Oxford Street West (OSW) – the section of the street from Orchard Streetto Oxford Circus – and surrounding streets.  Currently, only buses, taxis, and delivery vehicles can use Oxford Street between 07.00 and 19.00, Monday to Saturday. Under the plans, all

A semi autonomous delivery robot could be seen exploring the vast exhibition area at last week’s Smarter Travel LIVE! in Milton Keynes.  The robots are designed to offer the local delivery of packages, groceries and food on demand, within 15-45 minutes to destinations inside a two-mile radius, said developers of the system Starship Technologies. The company was launched by the Estonian co-founders of Skype, which saw an “opportunity to revolutionise the last-mile delivery indu

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has published a blueprint for delivering a transition away from diesel cars and commercial vehicles in urban areas. The plan was published as London launched its Toxicity Charge, or T-Charge, which requires the most polluting vehicles to pay a £10 daily fee on top of the £11.50 Congestion Charge. BVRLA members provide car-sharing and vehicle rental and leasing to businesses and consumers, operating a fleet of more than 4.7m

Smarter Travel LIVE! 2017 offers an expertly-crafted overview of need-to know people, initiatives, products and services – all in one place Resources are squeezed, time is precious and expectations upon local authorities and transport professionals increase.  The travelling public assumes that everything about their travel experience can, and should be, improved through the smart (and positive) implementation of technological innovation.  But is it really that easy? The t

Propelmee, an autonomous mobility software provider with specialist expertise in perception, will unveil its last mile delivery pod ‘Go4’ at the Smarter Travel show in Milton Keynes on 19 & 20 October. ‘Go4’ will appear on the ‘Street of the Future’ showcasing the first demonstration platform of Propelmee’s unique and highly robust autonomous mobility capabilities. ‘Go4’ will go live in a public demo in Cambridge later this year as a foot

More than 300 delegates attended Healthy Streets at Walthamstow Assembly Hall last week to explore the connections between public health and transport strategies. The event, organised by Landor LINKS and hosted by Waltham Forest Council, brought together council officers, urban designers, public health specialists, transport planners, consultants, academics, equipment developers, innovators and campaigners. The programme encompassed health-led street design, re-allocation of road space, behavio

Longer semi-trailers (LSTs) have cut lorry mileage and there are no signs they lead to more injury accidents, according to the latest report on the trial.  The Government launched the LSTtrial in 2012, initially permitting 1,800 of the trailers, which  can be up to 2.05m longer than the current standard semi-trailers  (15.65 metres instead of 13.6 metres). In January, the Government announced it would allow a further 1,000 LSTs to operate. Consultant Risk Solutions says the firs

Companies are being invited to compete for up to £15m of funding to develop technology to reduce harmful emissions from freight. The government hopes the projects it backs could see materials that make vehicles lighter, or improve the efficiency of engines or batteries. “We have made important progress in lowering emissions and are always looking at further ways of improving air quality,” said transport minister Jesse Norman. “Lorries cause a third of the UK’s

An international business campaign designed to fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles (EV) and infrastructure was launched by The Climate Group in New York, as business and government leaders gather at Climate Week NYC. Baidu, Deutsche Post DHL Group, Heathrow Airport, HP Inc., IKEA Group, LeasePlan, METRO AG, PG&E, Unilever and Vattenfall were the 10 first members of EV100, the only initiative of its kind to encourage global business commitments on electric transport, with members swap

The DfT and Highways England have appointed a research team led by TRL to oversee trials of lorry platooning on UK roads.  The project will see up to three lorries travelling in convoy with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle. All lorries will have a driver ready to take control at any time. On-road trials are expected by the end of 2018. Their location  has still to be determined. A DfT spokeswoman told LTT: “This will be decided as part of the research. It

The government is offering funding for projects in the UK to develop low carbon waste-based fuels for planes and lorries as part of plans to promote clean alternative fuels. The Department for Transport (DfT) predicts planes and lorries powered by waste fuels could use up to 90% less carbon than traditional fossil fuels. The £22m fund is being made available to projects that will produce low carbon waste-based fuels, to be used in planes and lorries where it is not viable today

The concept of enabling convoys of lorries to be wirelessly linked on motorways to enable accelerating, braking and steering in sync is to be tested on UK roads, the government has confirmed. The Department for Transport (DfT) and Highways England has commissioned Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to lead an £8.1m trial of platooning vehicles, initially on a track but eventually on motorways in real traffic. The announcement follows a government-funded feasibility study that recommende

The future of the North of England’s transport networks lies in the hands of its local authority leaders and not Whitehall departments, Chris Grayling has said on the eve of a summit on the need for better transport connections across the region. Writing in The Yorkshire Post, the transport secretary stated: “The success of northern transport depends on the North itself – on Transport for the North (TfN), businesses, mayors and devolved authorities, and on local communities. T

Former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has called on the government to build a high-speed rail line across the Pennines between Liverpool and Hull. He swapped being an MP for being editor of London’s Evening Standard, but he made his plea in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times. The trans-Pennine route would be an extension of the HS2 scheme, a new high-speed line that is intended to link London and Birmingham and which will have branches to Manchest

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is warning hauliers and delivery companies that cities across the UK will start levying high charges on older diesel HGVs and vans, for air quality reasons, between early 2019 and the end of 2020. London has proposals that could see, at the same time, many HGVs banned from the capital for having insufficient direct vision.

Changes to driver licensing rules will enable van drivers to switch to heavier electric or gas-powered vehicles vehicles without needing a new licence, the government has announced. Currently, a motorist with an ordinary category ‘B’ licence for a car can drive a van weighing up to 3,500kg. Cleaner vans, especially those powered by electricity from batteries, are generally heavier than conventional diesel vans because of the battery. This reduces the amount of goods they can carry o

Drivers will see an end to tolls on the Severn Crossings in 2018, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns has announced. The UK government said it delivering on a promise by Prime Minister Theresa May in May. The pair of bridges over the Severn are used by more than 25 million vehicles using the M4 motorway. The bridges are currently run by

Charging clean Air Zones (CAZs) could have a ruinous impact on small businesses unless the Government provides financial support, the Freight Transport Association has warned.  The FTA questions if introducing charging CAZs is worthwhile. “The benefits they bring are only temporary as they are not transformative but only bring the situation that was coming anyway forward by a few years – because older vehicles are being replaced all the time and new vehicles have to be Euro VI/

Women working in passenger transport are among the winners in the 2017 FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards, which took place at the Marriot Hotel in London's Grosvenor Square last night. The awards programme was first launched to raise awareness of the varied opportunities within transport and logistics, while creating visible role models to inspire and encourage more women to pursue a career in the industry. Maxin

Urban and rural rail services are more costly to provide than previously thought, and the taxpayer pays almost £200m a year to keep the rail network capable of carrying freight, according to a new method for allocating rail industry fixed costs commissioned by Network Rail.   Brockley Consulting, a specialist in regulatory and competition matters, has developed a method for allocating fixed costs of the rail network between operators. Says Brockley: “There does not [currently]

The European Commission has unveiled a major programme of transport legislation reform but there is uncertainty as to how much of it – if any – will apply to the UK, which is on its way out of the EU.  The Commission’s Europe on the Move statement includes proposals for legislation on road charging, vehicle safety (see page 3), and emissions standards. Action may be forthcoming on lorry weights and dimensions.  The UK’s Freight Transport Association said this

What the feature in the last issue on heavy goods vehicles shows is that bold freight policies are needed (‘Can’t live with them, can’t live without them: whither the HGV?’ LTT 12 May). We receive many requests for advice from the public on how to ameliorate the adverse impacts of lorries using unsuitable urban and rural roads. In the past, freight, which does not have a vote and was not seen as sexy, was often overlooked by politicians and officials alike. Growing aware

The promoter of a 60-tonne, 25.25-metre lorry is waiting to hear if the DfT will approve his proposal for on-road trials of 1,000 of the vehicles.  Dick Denby, non-executive chairman of Lincoln-based Denby Transport Ltd, has lobbied successive governments to permit trials of his eight-axle lorry, dubbed the Eco-Link. He says the vehicles would cut fuel consumption, reduce lorry miles –  thereby improving road safety – and reduce costs for shippers.  The UK’s cu

Women working in the highways and passenger transport sector are among the 33 finalists in the 2017 FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. The finalists include women working in the bus, coach, retail supply chain and shipping sectors.  The awards were created 10 years ago to highlight women excelling in their careers, creating visible role models to inspire a next generation of talent to follow in their footsteps. This year the awards have a new format, celebrating both suc

West Midlands Conservative Andy Street, the former managing director of retailer John Lewis, has made a huge number of transport pledges. He wants to improve a ‘hit list’ of major traffic blackspots in the conurbation; has ruled out a universal congestion charge; and promises to explore a lane rental scheme to cut road works disruption. He’ll also ask local authorities to review the timing of traffic signals. A review of bus lanes on major routes is proposed “to

Rebellion is in the air in Laugharne, a small town in rural Carmarthenshire which is visited by many tourists for its castle, its associations with the poet Dylan Thomas and its picturesque streets. Residents say that lorries have become “substantially larger” and are damaging their properties. The community association is campaigning for “inappropriately sized” lorries to be banned from the A4066 through the town but has been told that highways officers have no powers to

The Government is being urged to draft legislation to accelerate the delivery of road improvements to serve the Channel Ports in Kent. Charlie Elphicke, the MP for Dover and Deal, wants the planning processes temporarily  suspended to ensure the quick delivery of the Lower Thames Crossing (LTT 14 Apr); an upgrade to the A2/M2; and a new lorry park beside the M20 in Kent (LTT 14 Apr). All are taking too long to deliver, he says, claiming that the  need for them is urgent because the t

The scottish Government this week called on the DfT to rethink its decision to remove grant support from anglo-Scottish rail freight traffic, including the high profile Tesco Express service between Daventry and Mossend near Glasgow.   In all, more than 100,000 lorry movements may be added to Britain’s road network following the Government’s decision to reduce rail freight grants from April. The Mode Shift Revenue Support grant is being cut from £17.8m in 2016/17 to &poun

A pioneering urban freight consolidation centre serving Bristol and Bath could survive despite Bristol City Council’s decision to withdraw funding for its operation.  Councillors have agreed to end the £150,000 a year support for the Bristol and Bath Consolidation Centre from next month, as part of a £62.1m programme of saving measures over the five years from 2017/18 to 2021/22. The centre, located in Avonmouth near the M4/M5 motorways, was set up in 2004 with the aim o

Transport & Health Summit 2017 takes place in Bristol on the 23 and 24 Febrary. The key focus group/workshop session on Transport & Environmental Health will take place on February 24 at 12.00 during this event. More information online The workshop will explore issues relating to improving air quality, lowering emissions and congestion reduction for smarter fleet operations. Participants will include Public Health Wales, Scania UK, Bristol City Council, LoCITY, WHO Europe

Transport for London has just launched a consultation on its proposed new star rating system for lorries that, it hopes, will significantly reduce the number of cyclists and pedestrians killed or seriously injured on the capital’s streets.  The Direct Vision Standard (DVS) applies a star rating from 0 to 5 to every model of HGV, based on the level of vision the driver has directly from the cab. Zero star-rated HGVs will be banned from London’s roads from January 2020. From 2024

Transport for London and Ford will be trialling hybrid Transit vans. The 12-month project will see a fleet 20 new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Transit Custom vans that will run solely on electric power for the majority of city trips such as deliveries or maintenance work. Ford will provide 20 PHEV Transits to a range of commercial fleets across London, including TfL’s fleet, to explore how such vans can contribute to cleaner air targets while boosting productivity for operators in urban conditio

Congestion is the biggest problem facing transport in London and FTA is pleased to see it being addressed in the Transport Committee’s report London Stalling: Reducing Traffic Congestion in London. The FTA has concerns over the complexity of a planned road pricing scheme and the cost impact on London’s businesses and freight transport operators. The assembly surveyed car drivers to see if they would change behaviour but not commercial operators. Unlike car drivers, we don’t o

The Freight Transport Association’s annual awards for women working in transport and logistics is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The FTA everywoman awards were launched in 2007 to champion the sector’s female achievers. The 2017 FTA everywoman awards will explore the future of transport and logistics, including challenges facing the sector such as an increase in consumer expectations due to the rise of e-commerce logistics. This year’s award have a new form

The City of London Corporation this week approved plans to ban all but buses and cyclists from one of the Square Mile’s busiest junctions between 0700 and 1900 Mondays-Fridays.  The six-arm Bank junction outside Bank Tube station handles about 1,600 motor vehicles every hour of the day on weekdays. In the AM peak hour (08.00-09.00) cycling accounts for 50% of all vehicles and there are about 18,000 pedestrian crossing movements. In the five years ending November 2014 the junction had

The steady increase in online shopping is driving an increase in levels of van traffic across the UK, the RAC Foundation has said. According to the Department for Transport, van traffic has increased 70% over the past 20 years compared with 17% for all traffic. The foundation has just published the results of a survey that show more than 7 in 10 (71%) British adults aged 16-75 say they have shopped online within the last three months. The average UK household now places around 2.5 on

Scottish transport minister Humza Yousaf has been in the headlines this month for all the wrong reasons as politicians and pundits demanded to know what he was going to do about a slump in the performance of  ScotRail franchise operator Abellio.  “Transport minister is a poisoned chalice role,” The Scotsman’s political correspondent Scott Macnab wrote on 23 November, noting that some of Yousaf’s predecessors in post had found themselves at the centre of contro

The City of London Corporation is exploring a package of demand management measures to cut vehicular traffic levels.  A report to next week’s planning and transportation committee suggests tolls on the  Thames bridges entering the City; a higher congestion charge; changes to traffic signal settings; and freight consolidation centres to reduce goods traffic. The idea of placing tolls on bridges looks likely to be quickly dropped. The Corporation’s streets and walkways sub-

The government has set out its preferred route for Phase Two of HS2 from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds. However, the announcement does not include a final decision about where to locate a new station in or near Sheffield. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today (15 November) confirmed the majority of the preferred HS2 route from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds. Grayling has published a

Trucks are on a journey! Actually, they are on several – dropping off goods in supermarkets and collecting milk from farms, but also in terms of their performance, safety and environmental credentials. As with any journeys you often hear “Are we there yet?” – perhaps we should look at how far we’ve come already. When did we set off? Well, back in 1992 the European Commission set out a two-pronged approach to making the air cleaner. Firstly, it started to mandate cl

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport  (CILT) presented its annual awards last night. The CILT’s Annual Awards, presented at the Lancaster London last night, recognise achievement in logistics, transport and operations.Alan Braithwaite, chairman of global supply chain specialist LCP Consulting, received the CILT’s premier accolade, the Sir Robert Lawrence Award. Other winners on the night included Transport for Greater Manchester, Jaguar Land Rover, Reading Buses an

The government has given its support for a third runway at Heathrow, the first full-length runway to be built in the south-east since the Second World War. The scheme will be taken forward in the form of a draft National Policy Statement (NPS) for consultation. The government believes that a new runway at Heathrow can be delivered within the UK’s carbon obligations and that concerns over air quality can be addressed. The decision has been welcomed by a wide range of business groups, but

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to introduce the Central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) a year ahead of schedule. Under the proposals, a London-wide Euro VI requirement for lorries could be introduced in 2019. The mayor also wants to extend the ULEZ to the North and South Circular in 2019. The Mayor has started the formal consultation necessary to introduce the Emissions Surcharge

On 17 September Guardian columnist Deborah Or  took aim at people who use their mobile phones whilst driving. “What killed Lee Martin [a recent victim of a texting motorist] was the arrogance, stupidity, irresponsibility, lies and casual defiance of 30-year-old Christopher Gard [the motorist in question],” she said. “Gard… didn’t consider that he needed to focus and concentrate while driving a van at 65 miles an hour and this was not because Gard hadn&rsq

An expansion of London’s congestion charge zone and the introduction of a workplace parking levy could help restrain traffic growth, Sustrans has told the London Assembly’s Transport Committee’s investigation into traffic congestion. Sustrans called to a full feasibility into the introduction of an extended, usage-based road charging scheme for London, covering as much of Greater London as feasible. The charity suggested that such a study would need to consider the potential c

Foreign drivers who do not pay the Dart Charge for using the Dartford River Crossing should be pursued as actively as those in the UK, says the Freight Transport Association (FTA). A Freedom of Information request by BBC Radio Kent has revealed that almost a quarter of foreign registered vehicles are failing to pay the charge for using the Dartford Crossing. The figures show only 77.1% of foreign drivers pay first time. Barriers at the crossing were removed in November 2014 and the electronic

Fleet operators are displaying incorrect signage for cyclists on their vehicles. Cycling campaign groups have brought the matter to the attention of the Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS), a voluntary accreditation scheme encompassing all aspects of safety, fuel efficiency, vehicle emissions and improved operations Following complaints, waste removal firm A Better Service Ltd has been instructed by FORS to remove illuminated warning signs on the back left of its vehicles that instruct cyc

The UK Smart Mobility Lab in Greenwich has been presented with an award by Intelligent Systems (UK). The lab has been set up by TRL to provide a real world test bed for testing connected and automated vehicle technologies. It has been created with the support of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, CCAV, Innovate UK and DfT. Key partners include RSA, Direct Line, Telefonica, Shell, Sony, Jaguar Land Rover and Oxbotica. ITS (UK) is a not-for-profit public/private sector association that provides a

A new construction vehicle fitted with safety equipment and developed in partnership with Transport for London (TfL) will debut at Safer Vehicles 2016. The conference, organised by Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS), is being held in Westminster on the 14 June. The Dennis Eagle Elite tipper has more direct visibility than standard construction tippers as the cab is lower with panoramic windows and narrow pillars. It is fitted with a camera system and a Cyclear warning

London mayor Sadiq Khan has proposed tougher measures to improve the capital’s air quality, including expanding and earlier implementation of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, and tougher  London-wide emission standards for lorries and other heavy vehicles. In his first major announcement since being appointed mayor this month, Khan said a consultation on measures would start imminently, including:  • extending the proposed ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ) beyond the existing cen

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport is developing proposals for a bus alliance with operators to try and reverse a steep decline in patronage. Bruce Kiloh, SPT’s head of transport planning, explained  the proposals at last week’s STAR (Scottish Transport Applications and Research) conference in Glasgow.  Passenger numbers in the south-west of Scotland and Strathclyde (12 local authority areas) fell by 49 million (22%) between 2004/05 and 2014/15. The network has shrunk,

Jo Field, head of campaigns at Transport for London, was among the winners at the FTA everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards 2016 ceremony in London. Field was named Industry Champion of the Year at the ceremony, which was held at the Hilton on Park Lane.  The annual awards celebrate the success of women working in the UK transport and logistics industry. Caroline Rose, head of regional Operations at TNT Express, was presented with the Woman of the Year award. Described as a

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has warned that motorway blockades and protests at fuel refineries in France are impacting on UK lorry drivers, exactly 12 months after industrial action led to chaos in Calais. Dozens of petrol stations near the French port have run dry and FTA members have been struggling to fill their tanks. Many UK drivers have told the FTA they are visiting

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) is concerned that the new Mayor of London’s clean air strategy will add a substantial cost for transport operators and businesses, and could put some small firms out of business altogether. Sadiq Khan has announced a package of proposals to improve air quality including a

Birmingham City Council is to give freight vehicles and buses priority through nine signal-controlled junctions in a trial to improve journey time reliability.  A city council spokesman told LTT how the £345,000 pilot would operate: “Six of the junctions are controlled by SCOOT and three by MOVA. The SCOOT junctions will be upgraded to have MOVA functionality as well and to be able to choose between the two. We won’t be using SCOOT for priority – it will be a local

Three Transport for London (TfL) managers have been nominated in the Freight Transport Association (FTA) Everywoman in Transport and Logistics Awards. TfL’s Jo Field, head of campaigns, campaigns and engagement, and Dana Skelley, director of asset management, have been nominated for the Industry Champion Award. They are competing against Jean Gowin, managing director of Jeanius Consulting, a PR expert who is active in

Transport for London’s plan to encourage lorry operators to fit an extra window to the lower half of lorry passenger side doors has been questioned by borough association London Councils. The proposal (LTT 05 Feb) is intended to increase HGV drivers’ ability to see cyclists on their nearside. TfL has consulted on two ways to encourage the fitment of the new windows:  a) by a differential congestion charge or Low Emission Zone charge, according to whether a vehicle has the wind

Road traffic in Great Britain hit a new record level last year, boosted by economic growth and falling fuel prices, according to provisional statistics published by the DfT. The 317.8 billion vehicle miles travelled on Britain’s roads in 2015 was the highest rolling annual total ever and 1.1% higher than the pre-recession peak in the  year ending September 2007.  The data broken down by  vehicle type shows: • car traffic grew 1.7% to 248.6 billion vehicle miles &bul

The owners of the M6 Toll in the West Midlands are to put the asset up for sale. The decision has prompted calls for the Government to buy the road and maximise its congestion-relief benefits to the conurbation. Midland Expressway Ltd holds the concession to design, build, operate and maintain the 27 miles of road between Cannock and Coleshill. The concession ends in 2054, when the road will be handed to the Government.  Following a financial restructuring in 2013, the road is  owned

Road hauliers have questioned the legality of London mayor Boris Johnson’s new plan to require lorries in London to be fitted with an additional side window so that drivers can better see pedestrians and cyclists.  Under the plan, which has been published for consultation, existing and new lorries would have to fit a window in the lower half of the passenger-side cab door at an estimated cost of  £1,000-£1,500 per vehicle. The only exceptions would be a handful of lo

Kent County Council has given provisional support to Highways England’s plan to build a lorry park adjacent to junction 11 of the M20, which could accommodate thousands of lorries at times when cross-Channel transport is disrupted. HE is consulting on two locations for the park: Stanford West, to the west of the junction, and Junction 11 North.  Kent’s preference is Stanford West and for the site to be used as a permanent facility offering overnight parking, as well as being u

A partnership set up to reduce the hazard posed by construction vehicles to other road users has been lauded as the best road safety initiative this year. The Construction Logistics and Cyclist Safety (CLOCS) collaboration, led by Transport for London (TFL), was awarded with a Prince Michael International Road Safety Premier Award earlier this year and it has now received the Premier Award. This recognises the most outstanding achievement in road selected from all the awards categories. The T

Singapore announces today it will develop the technology for platoons of driverless trucks for transporting cargo between port terminals, as part of a long-term vision for autonomous vehicles. The announcement of new memoranda of understanding between the Ministry of Transport and the Singapore port terminals on driverless trucks, and between the ministry and Sentosa Development Corporation on self-driving shuttle services, comes after the approval of trials of self-driving vehicles. 

The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has launched an inquiry into surface transport at airports. The inquiry will examine whether strategic connections to airports fulfil current and future requirements in terms of range and capacity. The committee says it is interested to assess the effectiveness of the government's approach to planning surface access to airports, as well as understanding whether the governme

Lorries in London may have to be fitted with larger glass side windows to improve driver’s ability to see vulnerable road users, under plans announced by Boris Johnson. A consultation on the proposal will be launched in January and the mayor plans to take a decision on whether to proceed before he steps down in May.  Vehicles undertaking work for TfL, Crossrail or any other member of the Greater London Authority family will have to have the larger windows fitted irrespective of whet

I read with interest Dave Holladay’s Viewpoint (‘Lorry bans to improve cycle safety make good headlines, but do they make good policy?’ LTT 07 Aug).  Dave makes some valid points, such as the fact that a lorry ban in the peak period will not be that effective as six of the capital’s seven cyclist fatalities in collisions with HGVs this year have taken place in the off-peak. Yet his conclusion that the solution is to create segregated routes for lorries is frankly ri

Highways England is to conduct off-road trials of inductive charging that would allow drivers to charge their electric vehicles without stopping.  Wireless inductive charging enables a vehicle’s batteries to be recharged from induction loops embedded in the road. Recharging can occur when a vehicle is stationary or on the move, with the latter process known as dynamic charging.  Highways England has just published a feasibility study into ‘dynamic wireless power transfer&

Manston Airport in Kent is to be used as a temporary lorry park to complement Operation Stack as the migrant chaos in France continues to affect cross-Channel transport. Manston will provide additional storage capacity for lorries bound for the continent, when the police instigate Operation Stack, turning the coastbound carriageway of he M20 through Kent into a lorry park.  In an attempt to reduce the economic impact of the problems, the Government has also announced a filter system for l

The London Cycling Campaign’s call for a lorry ban in London fires up a passionate debate from both sides but also highlights a need for greater clarity and objective evidence to deliver the desired results effectively. Of the seven fatal crashes between HGVs and cyclists in London so far in 2015, only one has actually happened in the peak hour period as proposed for the ban, and no clear cordon line has been defined. If, for example, the outer boundaries of inner London boroughs are used,

The growth in van traffic is a conspicuous trend on Britain’s roads. Since 1995 light goods vehicle (LGV) traffic has increased by 68%, significantly outpacing cars and taxis (14%) and HGVs (about 3%). Even while car and lorry vehicle kilometres faltered during the economic downturn, the total distance travelled by LGVs continued rising and the DfT’s most recent estimates are that LGV traffic grew by 5.1% to the year ending March 2015 – well ahead of the 1.3% increase in distan

Serbjeet Kohli, an associate with Steer Davies Gleave, shares his insight into the future of modelling; on the behavioural and psychological change that is needed in the profession, on big data, building networks, autonomous vehicles, internet retail and the light van explosion, future car use and the uncertainties of trend prediction Years ago, much much more effort was required to build even basic network models. Most that were built were quite skeletal, we really didn’t have the geogra

Congestion on UK roads is the worst it has been for over ten years, a Freight Transport Association survey suggests. According to the FTA's quarterly transport activity survey, there has been a decline in the reliability of the road network to the lowest levels seen since 2002. Karen Dee, FTA's director of policy, commented: "This survey is a clear indication that congestion on our roads has increased again and drivers are getting stuck in traffic on a regular basis. "The freight and logistics

The Mayor of London and London Councils have approved a ban on any lorry not fitted with safety equipment to protect cyclists and pedestrians. The proposed 'Safer Lorry Scheme,' Britain's first, was backed by 90% of Londoners responding to a consultation. It will require vehicles of over 3.5 tonnes to be fitted with sideguards to protect cyclists from being dragged under the wheels in the event of a collission and Class V and Class VI mirrors giving the driver a better view of cyclists and pede

The UK’s most ambitious programme of road space reallocation away from general traffic in a generation was granted approval this week, as Transport for London’s board authorised implementation of four cycle superhighways in central and inner London. Construction of the routes, featuring extensive sections of fully segregated cycle lane, will begin almost immediately as London mayor Boris Johnson tries to ensure his flagship cycling policy bears fruit before he leaves City Hall next

Nominations are being sought for the eighth FTA Everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards programme, which aims to showcase the achievements of the growing female workforce, encouraging future talent to explore the opportunities and benefits offered by the sector.  The awards are free to enter and nominations are open until 2 February 2015. The categories are: Rising Star of the Year Award Awarded to a woman aged under 30 who is excelling in her career. Driver of the Year Award Awar

Transport for London wants Network Rail to shift more freight off the North London Line to improve performance of London Overground services.  “Freight delays are more emotive for us than perhaps the numbers suggest,” Jon Fox, TfL’s director of rail, told the London Assembly’s budget committee. Statistics suggest freight trains account for 2% of delays to Overground services, but Fox said: “When it does happen, like last Friday on the West London Line –

Boris Johnson has done more – much more – than any other politician to raise the political profile of cycling. But his eight-year tenure as London’s mayor will end 18 months from now and there’s no guarantee his successor will pursue the cycling agenda with the same gusto. Johnson is therefore determined to drive through big changes for cyclists in his final months and none is more ambitious – or controversial – than the plans for two almost completely segrega

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON, working with the University of Loughborough, has produced research indicating that changes to the design of HGV cabs could save the lives of significant numbers of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. The Loughborough Design School, a school of the University of Loughborough, was commissioned by TfL to show that realistic and economical changes to HGV cab designs can lead to tangible increases in the road safety of the roads for all, TfL says. The project was joint funded b

The Government has hailed the fact that its HGV road user levy has raised more than £17 million since it was introduced in April. Foreign truck drivers have paid more than 618,000 levies for over 112,000 lorries from a total of 76 countries in the four months since its introduction. This is far more than the £20m the Government expected it to generate, and the DfT said that this was "enough cash to patch more than 320,000 potholes on our roads". Roadside checks have seen DVSA enfor

The Prime Minister has appointed his child abuse adviser Claire Perry MP to the DfT as transport minister to replace Stephen Hammond. Perry, newly elected in 2010 as MP for Devizes, made the headlines last week for attacking a "Westminster chumocracy" for "protecting their own" over child abuse. She replaces Hammond, who served as shadow transport minister for five years, to 2010, and as transport minister over the last two years with responsibility for rail franchising and operations and freig

Cyclists and road danger reduction campaigners have welcomed Transport for London’s decision to end the use of ‘Cyclists stay back’ stickers on vehicles in the capital. Cyclist groups and the Road Danger Reduction Forum say the stickers, which appear on many commercial vehicles in the capital, imply that cyclists are “second class road users” (LTT 16 May). They are particularly unhappy that the stickers have appeared not only on HGVs – which can trap cyclists

Rail freight has set new records since the 1990s privatisation, according to the latest Office of Rail Regulation statistics.   22.7 billion net tonne kilometres were moved in 2013/14, an increase of 5.8% on 2012/13. Coal was the largest single traffic source and accounted for 8.1 billion net tonne kilometres. The annual freight lifted – the weight of goods carried – also reached a record 116.6 million tonnes in 2013-/14. Rail has an 11% modal share. It accounts for 25% of in

Cycling and road safety groups are trying to persuade  Transport for London to stem the proliferation of ‘Cyclists stay back’ stickers that have appeared on lorries, buses and vans in the capital.  The CTC, London Cycling Campaign, the Road Danger Reduction Forum, RoadPeace and the Association of Bikeability Schemes, wrote to TfL in February requesting that the stickers, which TfL has supplied to firms,  be removed. The groups said it was inappropriate to have a stick

The introduction of safer lorry designs on UK roads moved a step closer this week after the  European Parliament voted by 606:54 to change the rules governing the design of lorry cabs to make them safer and more aerodynamic.  MEPs voted in favour of giving lorry manufacturers more design space at the front end of the cab, a move that safety campaigners say will mark the beginning of the end for brick-shaped lorries.  According to Brussels-based environmental pressure group Trans

The design of lorry cabs are set to be changed to reduce the number of blind spots and to reduce the damage caused by impacts with cyclists and pedestrians by preventing them being pulled under. The vote was approved by an overwhelming majority with 604 MEPs in favour. Liberal Democrats claimed it showed the benefits of European Union membership, with the agreed changes expected to help prevent dozens of fatal accidents a year. MEP and transport spokesperson Phil Bennion said: "Today's vote is

Foreign hauliers from today are being charged to use UK roads, as the HGV road user levy introduces a charge which the DfT said ensures British hauliers are better able to compete with their foreign counterparts. The transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the levy has long been called for by the UK haulage industry and has been brought in nearly a year ahead of schedule. McLoughlin says: "The HGV levy provides a massive boost for the UK haulage industry. It will create a level playing fiel

Cargo bikes are increasingly becoming a viable alternative to using lorries and vans for deliveries in town and city centres, believes Gary Armstrong of cycle based delivery firm Outspoken Delivery. He points out that research by the EU funded CycleLogistics project has shown that up to 25% of goods currently transported by motor vehicles could be shifted to cargo bikes. Outspoken, based in Cambridge, currently provides collection and delivery services to over 200 customers and works with intern

Transport Scotland is pressing ahead with plans to install average speed cameras on  136 miles of the A9 between Dunblane and Inverness, despite ongoing opposition.  Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Highlands and chief secretary to the Treasury, has stepped up his calls on the SNP Government to reconsider the plans. “The vast majority of motorists have made their feelings clear,” he said. “Average speed cameras will do nothing to relieve frustration,

The DfT has appointed a consortium led by Ricardo to advise on the feasibility of a heavy goods vehicle platoon trial on the UK’s trunk road network. The DfT believes platoons (or convoys) of lorries operating using advanced vehicle technologies could have “huge benefits” if they can be safely implemented (LTT 20 Sep 13). Platoons allow vehicles to travel closer together, improving aerodynamic performance and saving fuel, and increasing network capacity. The research will con

Last time out, my closing words were about the “huge privilege and great responsibility” that it is to be professionally involved in how urban streets are shaped. This month, I want to talk about another critical aspect of street life where the conjunction of privilege and responsibility is a pressing issue. I’ll begin by passing on to you a couple of items that I read in the papers over just this past week. The first was a London Evening Standard front page proclaiming that,

Crossrail contractor Laing O’Rourke is working with Transport for London to trial a new design of construction lorry with improved driver visibility and safety equipment to reduce the risk of collisions with cyclists. The cab of the Mercedes vehicle has larger front and side windows, reducing the driver’s blind spot.   

Viewers of the BBC’s This Week late night political programme last week may have been extremely wary of getting on a bike the next morning. “With six fatalities on London’s streets in the last two weeks and – listen to this – 3,200 cyclists killed or seriously injured last year, cycling has become a dangerous business,” said presenter Andrew Neil, opening a discussion of the topic. The programme had asked Channel 4 News presenter and keen cyclist Jon Snow for

Billed as the largest single construction project after Crossrail, DP World’s new £1.5bn London Gateway container mega-port could change the map of freight transport in Britain. The massive terminal complex will allow the largest container ships to dock within 25 miles of the capital, and the MOL Caledon will be the first scheduled ship to use it upon opening on 7 November. London Gateway is situated on the site of the old Shell Haven oil refinery at Coryton on the north bank of the

AS THE debate about the Government’s high-speed rail plans rumbles on, it’s easy to forget that Britain already has a high-speed line – High Speed 1. The southern section of the 68-mile double-track line from London to the Channel Tunnel was completed in September 2003, followed by the northern section through to London St Pancras in November 2007. International Eurostar passenger services used the line from the start, but Southeastern’s domestic ‘Javelin’ tra

The Road Haulage Association this week launched a campaign against the Government’s plans to toll a 12-mile section of the A14  east-west trunk road in Cambridgeshire.  The RHA says the tolls will harm many of its members in East Anglia, including hauliers who use the A14 to transport goods between the container port at Felixstowe and the Midlands. The Highways Agency has just launched a consultation on a £1.5bn plan to improve 22 miles of the A14 between Ellington (west

Platoons of lorries controlled by only one driver could be trialled on UK roads. The DfT says platoons could have “huge benefits” if they can be safely implemented. “The potential long-term benefits – reducing road congestion by reducing the gaps between vehicles and thus increasing road capacity, reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide, and reducing accidents by eliminating human error – can be quantified more accurately by conducting an on-road trial,”

The Scottish Government may raise the speed limit for lorries on single carriageway sections of the A9 between Perth and Inverness in response to criticism of its plans to introduce average speed cameras along the 136-mile stretch of road from Dunblane to Inverness (LTT 09 Aug). Transport minister Keith Brown has hinted that he would be open to raising the speed limit for lorries from 40 to 50mph. He told the Highlands & Island edition of The Press and Journal last week: “We are looki

The government’s plans to toll the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge could harm  businesses in Suffolk, including the port of Felixstowe, Suffolk County Council has told ministers. In the spending round last month the Government announced plans to accelerate the delivery of the 20-mile Huntingdon to Cambridge scheme by almost two years, with a start date of 2016. The project has an estimated outturn cost of £1.5bn, which is proposed to be met from Government funding, tolls,

The Mayor of London’s roads task force is due to publish its findings shortly, addressing the contentious issue of how we best use London’s roads not just for potentially competing means of travel but also as key contributors to a high quality public realm.     The task force’s analysis suggests major challenges ahead: even if all the planned improvements in the Mayor’s transport strategy are implemented, traffic congestion is projected to significan

Network Rail is predicting a big increase in rail freight traffic over the next 30 years, even though one of rail’s staple markets – power station coal – is forecast to collapse. The draft freight market study forecasts freight tonne kilometres growing from 22.9bn in 2011 to 30.9bn in 2023, 37.2bn in 2033 and 45.2bn in 2043. Tonnes lifted have fallen from 115.4 million in 2004 to 111.3 in 2011. But NR predicts the trend will reverse with 126 million tonnes lifted in 2023, 1

Network Rail is preparing to accommodate massive growth in passenger and freight traffic on the rail network over the next 30 years. The infrastructure owner has just published market reviews of the regional urban, London & South East, and rail freight sectors, complementing the long-distance market study published in March (LTT 5 Apr). In each of the passenger sector studies, NR presents a range of demand forecasts before choosing to adopt the highest growth for route capacity planning, whi

Transport for London and TRL are trialling a range of cycle safety features on the test track at TRL’s Berkshire headquarters. Volunteers are testing the features, which, if deemed successful, could be trialled on London’s roads next year. Measures include new ways of segregating cycle lanes; changes to traffic signals; revisions to junctions and roundabouts; and bus stop ‘bypasses’. A summary of each trial is given below. Future trials will test different road markings

Satellite navigation service provider Navevo has launched what it claims is the world’s first ‘cyclist alert’ safety feature as part of the latest version of its ProNav satnav product for HGV drivers. The software has been developed in association with Transport for London to provide a commercial vehicle driver with an audible and visual alert as they approach a junction or section of road that has been determined to be a location where there are regularly high volumes of HGV

Derogatory phrases such as “Beeching the Butcher”, or “Beeching’s axe again!” tend to appear whenever there is a reference to the Beeching report or proposals are made to reduce rail services. And the effect of the “shortsighted closure of the branch railway and the village station under Beeching” forms an essential element in the local folklore of some 2,000 British villages. Yet few can have actually read the Beeching report, The Reshaping of British R

Newcastle City Council  is consulting on plans to ban goods vehicles and vans from the city’s pioneering ‘no car’ lanes, as part of wider proposals to revamp city centre traffic management. Newcastle’s ‘no car’ lanes are open to any vehicle that is not a car. But the council is now consulting on restricting their use to buses, cyclists, taxis, private hire vehicles and motorcycles. Vans and lorries would be prohibited. “The reasons for these propo

Transport for London has called for major reforms to how the construction industry manages its goods deliveries in an effort to cut accidents between construction vehicles and cyclists. More than half (56%) of the cyclist fatalities in London between 2008 and 2011 have involved large commercial vehicles and a disproportionate number of them involve construction vehicles, says TfL. It commissioned TRL to look at how cycle safety is considered within the design and operation of construction vehi

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has given the green light to a controversial plan for a major rail-connected warehousing development on Green Belt land in Hertfordshire. Pickles wrote to developer Helioslough just before Christmas saying he was minded to approve the construction of a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) on land in and around a former aerodrome at Radlett, near St Albans. Final approval is subject to a satisfactory Section 106 agreement being submitted by the end of Feb

Network Rail has unveiled its investment proposals for the 2014-2019 period which it says will allow 225 million more passengers to be moved and 30% more freight every year with 355,000 more trains running. The five year business plan would provide 20% extra morning seats into central London and 32% into large regional cities in England and Wales. It would also provide 700 more trains a day linking key northern cities and a ten-minute reduction in journey time between Manchester and Leeds. The

Using tolls to part-fund an improvement to the A14 across Cambridgeshire significantly reduces the scheme’s business case, according to the findings of the third and final report of the A14 Study commissioned by the DfT. The report concludes that levying a £2 toll for cars and £4 toll for lorries (in 2011 prices) on the improved section of road would wipe out the entire economic benefits of the road improvement package. But a lower charge of £1 for cars and £2 for

It is very positive that the shadow chancellor Ed Balls recognises the need to transfer long-distance freight to the railways as targeted Government interventions work (‘Balls seeks infrastructure deal’ LTT 12 Oct). Since the gauge upgrade out of Southampton port was completed in February 2011, rail’s market share of container traffic has increased from 29% to 36%, thus reducing road congestion, pollution and exposure to road accidents around the port and long-distance along th

A Labour Government would "radically improve" long-term infrastructure decision-making, planning, delivery and finance, the shadow chancellor Ed Balls has pledged. Balls and the Labour leader Ed Miliband have asked Sir John Armitt, the chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority, to draw up plans for "a commission or process, independent of government, that can assess and make proposals on the long term infrastructure needs of our country over the coming decades". This woul

Last month’s announcement by the DfT of proposals to upgrade and possibly toll the A14 has reignited the debate about user tolls on our roads. While the details are unclear, it would appear that the proposal is for a relatively short (20 mile) stretch of tolled expressway, with free local roads either side. Unless the DfT is back-tracking on previous statements that tolling will not be introduced on existing capacity, this proposal appears very analogous to the managed lane schemes of the

In the past year over 4,000 truck drivers were trained to be more aware of vulnerable road users, and specifically cyclists, at the behest of TfL, via the mechanism of its safe urban driving and safe London driving courses. But what does this training, which consists of an accredited seven-hour certificate of professional competence (CPC) module, actually involve? LTT recently ‘sat in’ on a typical day’s training, where seven HGV drivers were taught, in both theory and practi

Kent County Council has submitted proposals to ministers for a new funding stream that it says could raise hundreds of millions of pounds a year for new transport infrastructure. The council’s idea is for a UK Loyalty Fuel Card that would encourage hauliers entering the UK to fill their diesel tanks in this country. Kent says most overseas hauliers currently fill their tanks before entering the UK to take advantage of the lower fuel duty charged in countries such as France. This deprives

Consultation closes at the end of this month on the DfT’s Rail decentralisation proposals that could give local authorities in England a bigger say in specifying local rail services (LTT 16 Mar). The idea has interested many areas, including the North of England, West Midlands, London, Bristol conurbation, Devon and Cornwall. But whether anything tangible will come from the discussions will ultimately depend on the fine detail of the Government’s plans and, in particular, the funding

Opponents  of a plan to ban heavy lorries from a key route across Bath are hoping transport secretary Justine Greening will intervene before the trial is implemented. Bath & North East Somerset Council (BANES) plans to place an 18 tonne weight limit on Cleveland bridge in the city, a move that will effectively prohibit heavy goods vehicles from using the A36/A46 north/south trunk road as a through route (LTT 23 Sep 11). A council spokesman told LTT this week the plan was to implemen

Well done LTT in pulling together the publicly quoted costs of road congestion to the economy, ranging from the Prime Minister’s £7bn a year to £30bn (In Passing, 30 Mar). They can’t all be right. Indeed, are any right? I am struck by the evidence that the efficient road hauliers, for instance those that deliver for the supermarket chains, can meet very demanding contractual terms including penalties for delivering outside a specified 30 minute time slot. I had the oppor

The European Commission said this week it would reflect on its plan to relax restrictions on longer lorries after MEPs voiced fears about the safety and infrastructure cost implications of their widespread use. The Commission had been planning to ‘reinterpret’ a 1996  directive on lorry dimensions to allow use of 25.25 metre-long lorries on cross-border traffic between member states. Such an action would not automatically lead to the introduction of the vehicles on the UK&rs

During last week’s debate in Parliament, transport minister Norman Baker responded to the eight-point plan in The Times’ Cities fit for Cycling campaign as follows: Lorries entering the city centre should be required by law to fit sensors, audible turning alarms, extra mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists being thrown under the wheels Baker said roads minister Mike Penning was leading discussions in Europe to help cut HGV accidents caused by poor visibili

In early February The Times launched what has become an extended campaign to make Britain’s roads safer for the nation’s cyclists. The impetus for the campaign was the serious injury sustained by one of the paper’s news reporters, Mary Bowers, whilst cycling to work. “However regularly you may cycle on Britain’s city streets and however aware you are of the risks of doing so, it is not until you have seen one of your closest friends and colleagues stretchered off th

Cycling and freight groups this week gave a lukewarm welcome to Scottish transport minister Keith Brown’s announcement of how the first tranche of a £50m Future Transport Fund will be spent. The first £11m will be allocated over two years (£3.25m in 2012/13/£7.75m in 2013/14) to: work by Sustrans on cycling projects (£1.5m/£1.25m); Freight Facilities Grant for rail projects (£0.75m/£2m); and low carbon vehicles (£1m

The DfT and Transport Scotland want to trial using heavy goods vehicles to clear snow to key distribution centres. The proposal would require the DfT to relax weights and dimensions legislation and was suggested by industry during a supply chain resilience workshop at a DfT ‘listening to industry’ event. This week’s Winter Resilience in Transport report (see above) says it could bring “substantial benefits” but would require consideration “to ensure ploughs d

London Mayor Boris Johnson has been urged to review the design of the riskiest junctions in the capital for cyclists in the light of a rise in cycle deaths. There have been 15 cycling fatalities on the capital’s roads so far this calendar year, seven involving HGVs or tipper trucks, compared to ten in 2010. The deaths have prompted a ‘junction flash ride’ protest by cyclists to highlight unsafe junctions and a string of London Assembly members asking questions of the Mayor. T

Transport's role in achieving Lincolnshire’s goals to improve the economy and quality of life in Lincoln, is recognised by the county council. This is why the authority and the three local planning authorities commissioned a multi-modal transportation study for the area to guide investment in transport infrastructure. The study resulted in a dedicated Transport Strategy for the Lincoln Area, which recognises that Lincoln is “on the up” and attracts three million visits every y

The European Commission is consulting on whether road user charging should replace existing taxes and charges paid by lorries. The consultation on the internal market in road freight says the current structure of charges for lorries across the EU is too complex. “Today many fragmented national charging systems and policies exist in parallel that require hauliers engaged in international transport to purchase the Eurovignette, several national vignettes and various different electronic tag

What strange bedfellows you might think the Freight Transport Association, consultant Transport and Travel Research, the DfT, and the Noise Abatement Society make. A bit odd perhaps, but this strange relationship was born out of necessity. The historic polarisation of stakeholders in relation to night-time deliveries has been a great barrier to progressing HGV movements at night for the delivery of goods and services, the complexity of which is grossly misunderstood by the general public. Loca

When LTT last wrote about the Quiet Deliveries Demonstration Scheme the intention of project manager TTR (Transport and Travel Research) was to run six trials in the latter half of 2010 to investigate the extent to which it is possible to deliver goods to major retailers outside of ‘normal business’ hours without causing unacceptable noise disruption to local residents. Now, with the results of the four trials that eventually took place in, combined with data from two ‘trials t

It comes as no surprise that separate transport and local government House of Commons select committee inquiries in March concluded that the lack of strategic planning policy, exacerbated by the abolition of regional spatial strategies (RSSs), has caused a policy vacuum and could seriously undermine sustainable economic growth. This is especially true for rail freight, which needs to be planned at a more strategic level. Unfortunately it is facing uncertainty at present, with three new intermoda

Local Authorities are sometimes criticised for failing to understand the needs of business but that charge would be hard to level at Kent under Paul Carter’s leadership. Carter, the council’s Conservative leader since October 2005, has spent considerably longer – 33 years – in the construction industry and now runs a number of property, construction and retail businesses in central London. Normally when LTT interviews a councillor it is the cabinet member with  tra

Karen Dee has joined the Freight Transport Association as director of national and regional policy. Dee was previously director of policy at the Road Haulage Association, head of infrastructure at the Confederation of British Industry, and an adviser to transport minister Steven Norris.   

The DfT is consulting on allowing longer lorries on Britain’s roads, extending the maximum permitted length of articulated lorries by 2.05 metres to 18.75 metres. This is the same as the current maximum permitted length of a rigid truck with a drawbar trailer. The change has been lobbied for by road freight operators including Wincanton and organisations such as the Freight Transport Association. The DfT is considering allowing the change on a trial basis pending changes being made to the

The European Commission has outlined plans to reform the way transport is taxed and priced,  moves that could put it on a collision course with some Member State governments over subsidiarity principles. The Commission’s new transport White Paper says there is a need to reform pricing so as to  internalise external costs and avoid distortions. A number of measures are proposed in a first phase of reforms to 2016: The Commission wants motor fuel taxation revised wit

WITH ALL the furore about road user charging in recent years, it is perhaps surprising that the coalition Government’s intention to implement road user charging for lorries has received relatively little publicity. In part, unlike general road user charging, this is due to fairly widespread acceptance and indeed support for lorry road user charging (LRUC) amongst the haulage industry. For many years British-based hauliers have seen their share of cross-border trade steadily disappear. As

Those in favour of road user charging (RUC) schemes in the UK have suffered several serious setbacks in recent years, with referendums in Edinburgh and Manchester both rejecting congestion charging schemes by significant margins; London mayor Boris Johnson withdrawing the Western Extension of the capital’s scheme introduced by his predecessor; and the previous Labour administration cancelling its planned RUC scheme for lorries. And yet, according to Stephen Joseph, CEO of the Campaign for

Surrey County Council is calling on the Government to scrap the Traffic Commissioners and pass responsibility for bus  and goods vehicle licensing to local authorities. The council’s Conservative leader Andrew Povey has told ministers that traffic commissioners are “unnecessary quangos that add an additional layer of bureaucracy”. Povey also wants the Government to relax the rules on concessionary fares. “Although funding provided for concessionary fares is well-me

The trial carried out by Sainsbury’s, the London Borough of Wandsworth and the Noise Abatement Society in 2007 showed what can be achieved by out-of-hours deliveries accompanied by best practice noise mitigation measures. There was, for example, a reduction of 8-10 decibels in the maximum noise level from unloading, due to the installation of dock curtains, which seal the noise from inside the HGV’s trailer and noise from roll cages passing over the tailgate plane. The trial also inv

The DfT-Backed Quiet Deliveries Demonstration Scheme, which was launched in January, has a very simple aim: to test whether many of the current restrictions on HGV (heavy goods vehicle) deliveries outside of normal business hours are, in fact, necessary. Can allowing HGVs to deliver to major retailers at night and during weekends, which would have many obvious benefits from the haulier’s point of view and may also reduce congestion and vehicle emissions, be achieved without significant noi

First Group has started an asset sale to help reduce its £2.2bn debt. Presenting the group’s results for 2009/10, chief executive Moir Lockhead said he would listen to offers for non-core businesses in order to strengthen First’s financial position, despite debt falling by £220m last year due to £136m surplus cash being generated and favourable exchange rates. Lockhead forecast that an additional £150m would be available from group profits in 2010/11 to reduc

South Gloucestershire Council has approved plans to allow goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes to use its morning peak high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on the Avon Ring Road. The announcement marks a victory for the Road Haulage Association, which has lobbied for lorries to be given priority. The lanes currently operate 07.00-09.30 but the start time is being amended to 07.30.

The Department for Transport has published National Statistics on the activity of heavy goods vehicles (over 3.5 tonnes gross weight) during 2008, including foreign vehicle activity in the UK, according to arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.  Key findings include: The domestic activity of GB-registered goods vehicles Freight moved by GB-registered heavy goods vehicles within Great Britain decreased by 6% between 2007 and 2008, from 161 billion tonne kilomet

Salford City Council has given the go-ahead for a multi-modal freight exchange at Port Salford. It would be build on a 137-hectare site on the bank of the Manchester Ship Canal between Barton Bridge and Irlam by developer Peel Holdings. Peel would also build two new container ship berths that would handle 300,000 TEU per year. A maximum of sixteen freight trains would serve the terminal each day from a branch line off the Transpennine line that would link to a seven-track reception yard capable

On 18 June comedian David Mitchell used his weekly video diary column in The Guardian to take aim at the road haulage industry. “I hate hauliers,” Mitchell began. “Admittedly, the problem of making stuff stop being in some places and start being in other places is an ancient one but taking it from one to the other in lorries by road is an inefficient, environmental disaster of a solution – it is slow, it is the cause of slowness in others, it is massively polluting, it do

Thousands of lorry journeys are expected to be taken off the roads, following the completion of part a two-year £55m scheme to create a freight path for the 'big box' containers between Southampton Docks and the West Coast Main Line near Nuneaton. Network Rail have lowered the railway track under two listed bridges in the Whitacre Heath area to enable the haulage of the larger 'big box' containers by rail to the Birmingham International Freight Terminal (BIFT) at Birch Coppice, close to

Kent International Gateway has submitted an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate following the non-determination by Maidstone Borough Council of the company’s planning application for a major rail freight interchange at Bearsted, near Maidstone. The plans, on a 112-hectare site east of Maidstone and next to the M20 junction 8, include a 6.5-hectare rail/road intermodal area, new railway sidings off the Ashford to Maidstone East railway line, warehousing, and a commercial development at the

Crossrail has announced a logistics study to minimise the impact of Crossrail’s construction on central London. The study, to be undertaken by logistics services provider DHL Exel Supply Chain will determine the most efficient way for materials and equipment to be delivered to key central London construction sites while also ensuring smooth traffic flows. Construction of Crossrail is due to begin in 2010 and will be ‘the biggest construction project in Europe’ according to ex

ITS is most often mentioned with reference to controlling the flows of private cars on a road network. But, according to Geoff Clarke, freight consultant at Faber Maunsell and the chair of the ‘Freight’ Special Interest Group at ITS-UK, information technology is not only changing the way we live and work but also leading to fundamental transformations of the supply chain. “Information technology now allows freight transportation systems to be ‘smart’, whereby compl

Current government policy is clearly stated in Towards a Sustainable Transport System. Yet is this simply spin, from a government that has just added another £7bn for motorway widening to its roads programme? I raise issue this because in July I was an individual objector at a Public Inquiry concerning a proposed bypass. Traditionally, inquiries into road schemes go only one way – the road gets approved. So are things changing, or is it “business as usual”? What inquir

The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, Centro, is backing the idea of developing the proposed Midland Metro tram system extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill such that trams will be able to share the tracks with freight trains. An initial joint study between Centro and Network Rail has now been completed. “Running freight trains on the proposed tram tracks will remove the need to build a separate track for freight alongside the Metro rails, cutting overall construction costs

The potential for digital maps to play a vital role in the development of a number of innovative transport applications is huge, according to Roger Payne, DMO (digital mapping operations) manager at Navteq, one of the leading digital mapping data suppliers. For example, whilst used primarily in in-car satellite navigation systems at present, Payne points out that his company's data is increasingly being used in such things as hand-held navigation equipment for pedestrians; that specialist map d

A long-running debate about whether lorries pay their 'external costs' such as on the environment, congestion and damage to the road network, has been given fresh impetus by a new paper saying that lorries only pay between a third and two-thirds of the damage they inflict on society. The findings come in research by the Metropolitan Transport Research Unit for environmental campaign group the Campaign for Better Transport. MTRU says different studies have produced significantly different estima

The first trials of trains over the Stirling-Alloa-Kincardine railway began this week in advance of the official launch of services on 19 May. An hourly Alloa--Stirling-Glasgow Queen Street Scotrail passenger service will operate and the line will also provide a more direct route for coal trains from the west of Scotland to Longannet power station in Fife, freeing up track capacity over the Forth Rail Bridge for additional passenger services. The £85m re-opening of the line has been promoted by

The DfT has announced grants for work to improve rail infrastructure on four routes that will enable more freight containers to be carried by rail. The routes and DfT contributions are: Peterborough to Nuneaton (£80m); Southampton to Nuneaton (42.83m); the Humber ports to the East Coast Main Line (£8m); and the Liverpool Docks to the West Coast Main Line (£1.7m). The main work will comprise one or more of the following: slewing and/or lowering track to give clearance under brid

The European Commission is reviewing whether to increase the maximum length and weight of lorries operating in the EU, a move that adds to pressure in the UK for existing limits to be relaxed. The Commission currently sets limits for vehicle dimensions and weights in international traffic and dimensions in national traffic, though member states have a certain amount of leeway. "This creates inconsistency for operators and makes enforcement more difficult," said the Commission last wee

The Chancellor Alistair Darling this week announced Government grant of over £5bn as part of the funding deal to enable construction of London's east-west Crossrail scheme to begin. News that a deal had finally been reached to meet the £16bn estimated cost of the scheme was greeted with delight by Crossrail supporters such as mayor Ken Livingstone, business lobby group London First and the Corporation of London. But amid the celebration, concern was voiced about who would pick up the bill if t

UK Coal has been given the go-ahead to redevelop Gascoigne Wood, the transport hub of the former Selby mining complex, into a rail-linked business park. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears, who backed the recommendations of a public inquiry inspector, said that "sites of the quality that Gascoigne Wood are rare and the site has the significant potential to support rail-linked manufacture and or distribution." Coal production at Gascoigne Wood ceased i

Transport for London has called for a number of new rail freight distribution centres located in and around the capital as part of a strategy to boost the amount of goods moved by rail. TfL?wants to see large multi-modal retail distribution centres on the periphery of London adjacent to the M25 or other motorways. A joint study of potential sites is likely with Network Rail and the South East and East of England regional assemblies (LTT 30 Aug). TfL also wants to see an international terminal

The number of satellite navigation systems currently in use on the UK's roads is estimated to be in excess of four million. Which may not seem like a large number, in comparison with the nation's 32 million motorists, but if this estimate is correct it means that the number of satnav units extant has doubled in only two years and, according to one report, such systems are now being fitted as standard in something like 70% of all new cars. And so the question, from the traffic manager's point of

The freight industry this week urged satellite navigation companies to develop equipment more suitable for freight operators in an attempt to tackle the growing problem of lorry drivers taking their vehicles down inappropriate roads. The call from the Freight Transport Association came as the Welsh Assembly Government approved trials of a new sign intended to stop lorry drivers following the instructions of their satnav device and becoming stuck on narrow country roads. Publishing his Associat

Ruth Kelly has become the first female transport secretary of state for almost 40 years following the ministerial reshuffle instigated by new prime minister Gordon Brown. The reshuffle sees almost the entire ministerial transport team replaced, with only junior transport minister Tom Harris remaining in post. Douglas Alexander moves to become secretary of state for international development, Stephen Ladyman has left the Government and Gillian Merron has become a minister in the Cabinet Office.

Ken Livingstone's announcement of his determination to go ahead with a London-wide Low Emission Zone (LEZ) has done nothing to convince critics that the decision is little more than "environmental grandstanding" (LTT 10 May) or that the scheme will deliver a cost-effective improvement to London's air quality. Barring legal challenge to the plan, from next year most goods and passenger vehicles will have to meet target standards (see panel below) or pay a hefty £200 per day for us

TfL, Transport for London, London mayor Ken Livingstone this week ignored a chorus of opposition by announcing that the largest Low Emission Zone in the world will become operational across London in February next year. The mayor has signed the Road User Charging Order for the scheme despite the freight industry and London Councils saying the scheme will have a barely perceptible impact on air quality but exert a massive cost on taxpayers and business. Roger King, chief executive of the Road

The UK's standing on many aspects of its transport system is better than other European countries in many respects and worse in others, a new report by the Commission for Integrated Transport says. CfIT published its first review of European transport statistics in 2001 and has now revisited the data, benchmarking the UK's performance against countries with similar states of economic development (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sw

Freight organisations and rail freight promoters have welcomed transport secretary <b>Douglas Alexander's</b> announcement that much of the early Transport Innovation Fund productivity stream funding could fund gauge enhancements to allow nine-foot six-inch containers to be carried by rail from ports using conventional wagons. Alexander announced in June that the schemes that would be considered in the TIF productivity stream included a number of strategic rail freight schemes and t

Over the past decade, the setting up and promotion of travel plans has become a key feature in the range of measures now available to transport planners in their attempts to encourage greater modal shift amongst the travelling public. The potential in tackling workplace travel in particular was underlined in the Smarter Choices report produced last year for the DfT on the impact of 'soft' transport measures (LTT 29 Jul 04). It concluded that the biggest contribution in terms of reducing car use

A Conservative Government should expand the road programme and consider privatising parts of the road network, John Redwood, chair of the party's economic competitiveness working group, has said. The working group's interim report published last week says there is a need for a "more balanced transport policy" that recognises that "people and businesses need roads as well as railways". "We are considering short-term programmes to increase flows on existing roads and rail

The DfT has reiterated its support for a new London Gateway port and business park on the site of the former Shell Haven oil refinery in Thurrock, Essex, but rejected a call from Network Rail for "significant improvements" to the rail infrastructure to boost rail's share of port freight. In a 'further minded view' letter, the DfT's head of ports, Phil Carey, said: "The secretary of state [for transport] is satisfied in principle that the impacts of the proposed port ? can be miti

Government ministers have been quick to accentuate the positives in discussing the recently opened M6 Toll road in the West Midlands. In launching the consultation on plans for a tolled M6 Expressway through Staffordshire and Cheshire this summer, transport secretary Alistair Darling said the existing M6 Toll, which opened last December, had proved to be a success in reducing congestion (LTT 15 Jul). However, the data on the use of the M6 Toll merits close inspection. The actual level of traffi

The committee of MPs set up to scrutinise the Crossrail Bill this week warned that rail capacity problems in East London could threaten efforts by rail freight firms to serve the recently approved container ports at Shellhaven, Bathside Bay and Felixstowe. In an interim report published ahead of the summer parliamentary recess, the committee, chaired by Alan Meale, said it believed the rail freight sector faced "an increasing challenge with current capacity insufficient for the needs of gr

Steven Norris wants to significantly increase the cost of motoring in Britain. Indeed, he envisages a world where, under a future Conservative Government, the cost of motor fuel could well be doubled in a decade, principally by the reintroduction of the fuel duty escalator mechanism introduced by Conservative Chancellor Kenneth Clarke in the 1990s but then abandoned by his New Labour successor Gordon Brown in 2000. Now statements of intent like this are probably not what LTT readers are expecti

Surprise, surprise - we are seeing the start of a campaign for heavier lorries ('Lorry weight debate re-opens as study outlines benefits of 44 tonnes' LTT 20 Jan), now using claims that this will deliver the 'Holy Grail' of reduced carbon dioxide emissions. Perhaps this is not unrelated to the approach of the EU's Working Time Directive, which will increase costs by imposing shorter working hours for lorry drivers. We have, however, seen a similar pattern of events before. When lorry weights we

The Government's climate change review programme published last month (LTT 6 Apr) suggests that, with the extra measures put forward, emissions from road transport will remain constant over the latter half of this decade. This might be viewed as a success given the growth in traffic we have seen and that is forecast. However, transport is the only sector showing growth in emissions from 1990 levels and nationally we are not set to meet our domestic CO2 target. There are two principal ways of re

The Government was this week facing renewed protests from road hauliers against the high cost of fuel, as well as from motorists angry at use of speed cameras on motorways. Speed 'not to blame' for accidents at camera site. Road hauliers and farmers this week travelled to many of the main oil refineries in the country to highlight the dramatic rise in fuel prices that, they say, is crippling their industries. The Road Haulage Association wants the Government to reduce fuel duty to compensate

A two-tier parking penalty structure that distinguishes between minor and more serious contraventions should be considered by London boroughs as part of a move to regain public support and respect for the parking charge system, the London Assembly's transport committee has suggested. The recommendation is made in the final report of an inquiry into parking enforcement in the capital, launched in response to concerns that the steep rise in the number of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) being issued

Darling axes lorry road charging plan Transport secretary Alistair Darling this week stunned the freight industry by announcing that he was scrapping plans to introduce a distance-based lorry road user charging scheme in 2008. Darling told MPs that with the Government now taking forward plans for a national road pricing scheme covering all vehicles it no longer made sense to take forward a separate scheme for lorries. He said the Government was therefore cancelling the procurement exercise tha

According to press reports the Government's recent decision to abandon its plans for lorry road user charging (LRUC) was strongly opposed by the road haulage industry. The Independent, for example, spoke of the industry's "fury" at the news, largely reflecting the strongly-worded comments in a Freight Transport Association (FTA) press release. This, however, misrepresents the views of many hauliers who, like me, were very critical of the Government's plans. Nor does it square with the