On Mar 21, 8:39 am, Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, Adrian wrote:
On Mar 19, 3:53 pm, "TimB" wrote:
On Mar 19, 10:05 pm, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:

In article . com,

(TimB) wrote:
On Mar 19, 6:35 pm, (Colin Rosenstiel) wrote:

That is steady/declining, while container freight from the
ports is booming, which is the root of this problem.

The containers don't *all* go to the Midlands and "oop North".

I'd say most of the ones that go /by train/ do - London containers
are largely trucked in direct from Tilbury/Felixstowe, I'd assume.

How many rail container facilities are there in London, then?

Just Tilbury and Willesden, I guess - that's why I assume most
containers come by truck ie lorry.

Well that pretty much covers what I was looking for in my request for
statistics. It would seem that most freight utilizing the North
London Line is not bound for London. Some maybe terminating at
Willesden.

A four track NLL may well segregate the two traffic flows. But, it does
not spare Londonners the noise, dust and polution created by the freight
flows that should be routed elsewhere.

What noise, dust and pollution? Are you talking about trains or lorries?
Freight trains are certainly noisy, but no more so than any other train of
the same length, and, since the lines in question are electric, aren't
dusty or (locally) polluting.

What *would* improve the environment for Londoners would be if local
freight could be shifted from road to rail - not possible for everything,
of course, but things like construction materials and supermarket supplies
could be brought into town by train, then distributed by road, rather than
having to come all the way in on lorries. Mostly, this is a question of
having suitable transfer terminals and a lot more organisation and impetus
than at present, but a high-capacity freight route through London could
hardly hurt!

tom

--
I'm angry, but not Milk and Cheese angry. -- Mike Froggatt- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well in this instance I am talking about trains, specifically freight
trains. If we are discussing Felixstowe to the midlands and north
trains running by way of the North London Line, they are 1. Taking
paths that could very usefully be utilized by a more intense passenger
service.

2. They bring noise to a densely populated urban area. 3. Where they
are diesel hauled they add to the local air pollution. I would agree
that this is a small problem relative pollution from trucks.

3. They are raising some dust. Not much dust, but they do create
some by the interaction between the track and ballast. But, worse
they produce particulates when braking. At one time the dust from
brake blocks was carcinogenic. I don't know if that is still so.

Where these freight workings unavoidable I would consider this
situation acceptable. As it is these workings need to be routed
outside of the metropolis. As I understand it, the Ipswich to
Nuneaton route is being upgraded with this in mind.

You are correct in stating that there would be enormous environmental
benefit to be gained by moving freight from road to rail. However,
there is NO economic case for short haul rail freight. Unless city
dwellers are prepared to pay the cost involved in local rail freight
haulage, and persuade their politicians that they are so willing, this
is not going to happen.

Adrian