Levelling up Freight
Lead Participant:
3SQUARED LTD.
Abstract
**Background**
Rail freight is vital to Britain. It contributes almost £2.5bn to the economy and plays a big part in reducing congestion and emissions. Rail is more environmentally friendly than road, with every tonne of freight transported by rail producing 76% less emissions compared to road (RDG "Levelling Up Britain" 2021). The green benefits of rail freight are being driven heavily by the DfT with incentive schemes such as Modal Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) -- a £20m grant, which freight carriers can bid for a share of to support modal shift to rail. Despite widescale use of MSRS, finding new freight routes for additional trains is challenging because:
* Road haulage is seen as easier and more accessible than rail freight, especially at short notice, for short journeys and for single containers.
* Highways are less regulated with no significant barriers to commercial participation, and therefore are free to use the latest technologies to develop and evolve solutions at a faster pace.
* Railway planning systems and processes limit the availability and visibility of freight paths (slots in the timetable which can accept a freight train) resulting in under-utilisation of network capacity.
Our innovative freight planning solution (PathPlanner) will make the use of rail for freight as accessible and easy to use as the road network. PathPlanner is specifically designed to overcome the current operational challenges and blockers that make moving to rail prohibitive.
**Proof-of-Concept Demonstration**
In 2021, NR completed a £17m upgrade around Southampton to enable longer trains in/out of the docks. Completing April 2023, Solent Stevedores is investing c.£3m to strengthen their capability to receive and dispatch longer and more trains -- from 9 to 16 per day.
However, NR's business case did not include any understanding of capacity in/out of the port, so Solent Stevedores is currently unsighted as to how, or if, they can find the additional paths.
There are significant gains to be made if they can; 7 extra trains equate to:
* £12.6m additional revenue p.a.
* a reduction of 55,000 HGVs, and
* a reduction of carbon by 1,165 tonnes.
Our project will demonstrate a Proof-of-Concept solution at Southampton Docks that will facilitate Solent Stevedores, and Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) - 2 of our project partners - to find additional freight paths and transfer containers from HGVs to trains.
Rail freight is vital to Britain. It contributes almost £2.5bn to the economy and plays a big part in reducing congestion and emissions. Rail is more environmentally friendly than road, with every tonne of freight transported by rail producing 76% less emissions compared to road (RDG "Levelling Up Britain" 2021). The green benefits of rail freight are being driven heavily by the DfT with incentive schemes such as Modal Shift Revenue Support (MSRS) -- a £20m grant, which freight carriers can bid for a share of to support modal shift to rail. Despite widescale use of MSRS, finding new freight routes for additional trains is challenging because:
* Road haulage is seen as easier and more accessible than rail freight, especially at short notice, for short journeys and for single containers.
* Highways are less regulated with no significant barriers to commercial participation, and therefore are free to use the latest technologies to develop and evolve solutions at a faster pace.
* Railway planning systems and processes limit the availability and visibility of freight paths (slots in the timetable which can accept a freight train) resulting in under-utilisation of network capacity.
Our innovative freight planning solution (PathPlanner) will make the use of rail for freight as accessible and easy to use as the road network. PathPlanner is specifically designed to overcome the current operational challenges and blockers that make moving to rail prohibitive.
**Proof-of-Concept Demonstration**
In 2021, NR completed a £17m upgrade around Southampton to enable longer trains in/out of the docks. Completing April 2023, Solent Stevedores is investing c.£3m to strengthen their capability to receive and dispatch longer and more trains -- from 9 to 16 per day.
However, NR's business case did not include any understanding of capacity in/out of the port, so Solent Stevedores is currently unsighted as to how, or if, they can find the additional paths.
There are significant gains to be made if they can; 7 extra trains equate to:
* £12.6m additional revenue p.a.
* a reduction of 55,000 HGVs, and
* a reduction of carbon by 1,165 tonnes.
Our project will demonstrate a Proof-of-Concept solution at Southampton Docks that will facilitate Solent Stevedores, and Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL) - 2 of our project partners - to find additional freight paths and transfer containers from HGVs to trains.
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
|---|---|---|
| 3SQUARED LTD. | £393,271 | £ 393,271 |
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ben Bailey (Project Manager) |