Could a version of the nineteenth-century local goods train be the answer to some very twenty-first century problems? Climate change, congestion charging, low-emissions zones, and HGV driver shortages may not have been issues in Victorian Britain, but in modern Elizabethan times there is an urgent need to find new environmentally-friendly ways to keep the wheels of commerce turning.
The cutting-edge technology that may save our cities from a Dickensian nightmare of clutter and climate, could be solution invented in those very same Dickensian times. What used to be the mainstay of freight operations around the country could be ready for a comeback in a very up to date way.
Hop on, hop off
In an echo of historical practices last seen in the 1970s, light goods will, next year, find their way into central London on dedicated trains. A highly-automated handling process will see mixed loads quickly delivered to local businesses in the area. All very historical, but there are a few modern twists. The loads originate from an intermodal service – containers straight off the deck of a ship at London Gateway port, and Instead of a long line of horse-drawn carts, a fleet of eco-friendly electric delivery buggies will do that last mile – or last 1.6km for the metrically if less poetically minded.
What’s more, trains of traditional short-wheelbase wagons won’t terminate at long-demolished goods terminals like Bishopsgate or York Way – two of London’s biggest in their day. They will be arriving on converted passenger multiple units, retrofitted to run bi-mode straight into the passenger platforms at Liverpool Street station in the heart of the financial district.
“straight into the passenger platforms” — As if dwell times weren’t enough of a problem already! I’d love to see a new Red Star parcels-type operation in action again, taking these hundreds of long-distance courier trucks off the road, but that will need dedicated railheads, and the goodsyards disappeared years ago under car parks or housing.