LUTON NORTH MP CALLS FOR NEW FREIGHT RAIL LINE

Kelvin Hopkins MP for Luton North called last week for the Government to support the building of a new freight railway line from Liverpool to the Channel Tunnel which would carry full sized lorries and double stacked freight containers. The scheme being promoted by Central Railway would take between 8 –10,000 lorries a day off Britain's motorways and provide a fast and reliable freight link with the Continent of Europe.

Speaking in his own Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons, Kelvin Hopkins said that the Government had shown “that they believe that rail has a significant and growing role to play in freight transport in Britain”, which is most welcome. However, Kelvin said that he thought that the Government's targets for rail freight were too modest and that current investment in rail freight was too low. He thought too that Railtrack was not taking rail freight seriously.

Kelvin Hopkins continued, “Hauliers tell me that what they really want is a dedicated lorries-on-trains service through the Channel Tunnel. If hauliers could load their lorries, ‘swap bodies' and containers in the North and then guarantee a time of arrival in Northern France, that would bring new life to our industrial heartlands. The Central Railway service would also provide for double-stacked freight containers, which is effectively two trainloads in one train's length”. Kelvin concluded by saying that if the Government lent their support to the Central Railway scheme “they could be credited with having made possible a venture of historic proportions”.

In answering the debate, Transport Minister, Keith Hill MP said that the Government was at this stage taking an absolutely neutral stance but were referring the scheme to the Strategic Rail Authority for a review.

After the debate, Kelvin Hopkins said, “I was pleased with the outcome of the debate in that while the Government will not at this stage commit itself, the scheme is to be taken seriously and will be reviewed by the Strategic Rail Authority. I believe the logic of the scheme is overwhelming, and Britain desperately needs new rail freight capacity if we are not to see the whole roads system seize up in a gigantic traffic jam in a few years' time. Taking thousands of lorries off the M1 through Luton every day would also be of great benefit to local people.”