Integrated Transport
Ports are transport hubs and nodal points in the supply chain. They depend upon good road and rail links, so ports’ requirements need to be reflected in regional and modal transport plans. 50% of all freight carried on the railways is moving to or from a port. Most of the larger ports are rail connected, and are planning – for environmental reasons and cost and service considerations – for an increasing proportion of the traffic to travel by rail. Rail freight can be hampered by congestion on the main rail network, leading to delays and problems in obtaining additional paths. UKMPG welcomes the commitment in the 2007 Rail White Paper to develop a Strategic Freight Network to upgrade rail-freight links to and from ports.
The European Commission, and to some extent, the UK Government, see an increasing, more prominent, role for short-sea shipping as a means of alleviating congestion on the road network. UKMPG supports this in principle, with the important proviso that any financial assistance towards new facilities for short-sea shipping should be strictly limited to situations where it is clear that the development will lead to a switch of traffic from road to sea. Otherwise, there is a danger that such assistance will distort the market by causing a transfer of traffic from one port to another, with little overall gain.
