Lucy Hudson, Lead Officer for Freight and Logistics, reflects on the importance of freight and considers if it’s the bass player of the transport industry.
I’ve now been at the Multimodal conference for a day and a half, so still only 50% of the way there! Although the feet are aching, passion for freight is as dazzling as ever! If there’s one thing that becomes clear to me already, it’s that whilst freight can be overlooked, it is a fundamental part of what keeps our country ticking over. It’s like the lowly bass player in a band. Always there, just plucking away, almost invisible but without them the music just doesn’t make sense.
Our Strategic Transport Plan is a comprehensive analysis of how the North of England can be transformed and realise its potential, but, of course, it’s the big projects, just like the lead singers and guitarists, (think Brian May’s solo in We Will Rock You… the song begins and then you hear that note coming) that get the headlines. These are clearly vitally important and will transform the way we live, work and play, but freight is also a fundamental part of what we’re trying to do, and something that was carefully considered when pulling together our Plan.
Some facts and figures…
The Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review, which was one of the first documents commissioned by TfN, found that if the North was connected in the right way, we would see almost £100bn GVA and 850,000 jobs added to the UK economy by 2050. Without being able to move our goods around the North better, we will simply not be able to make those figures a reality.
The Enhanced Freight and Logistics Analysis that we worked on shows a 33% increase in tonnes lifted within the North by over the same period. From a road perspective, 87% of freight movements use the road network in the North and over road, rail and inland waterway we predict an increase of over 60% in tonne km which reflects the large amount of freight that is moved over longer distances. For ports, a third of the UK’s freight currently moves through the North’s ports against a population that only represents 23% of the UK total. We know we have the potential to do so much more. We’ve seen some significant investments at Liverpool, Immingham and Teesport, but there is a long way to go to ensure the North’s share increases and connecting the whole region in the right way is how we’ll make that happen.
The bass player is the best – yes, really!
Yes, we can have our moments in the sun, our ‘John McVie solo’ from Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain (the F1 theme for any younger readers). For example, Network Rail completing the work to deliver gauge enhancements on the South Humber rail line will enable the Ports of Grimsby and Immingham to move containers on the railway, which they have not been able to do before – simply because the bridges were too small to fit the standard shipping containers underneath.
But in truth, I think that while having moments in the spotlight for us is important, the most important part is that freight fits in perfectly with the mix. People might not always notice that we’re there, but they’d definitely notice if we weren’t.
In reality, I want people to know that freight is understood as part of the bigger picture. I’m confident that if we deliver our full Strategic Transport Plan, including Northern Powerhouse Rail, then the freight industry will be in a much healthier place, for the benefit of not just the North but the whole of the UK.
So as the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote about, no we haven’t all been perfect in the past but we’re definitely on the right track now. We’re going for the ‘Higher Ground’! If you’re still around at Multimodal – join us on our Stand 1034 to find out how!