The movement of cargo often comes second to the movement of people in transport policy discussions. Shipping containers don’t vote, after all. But over recent years, we’ve seen glimpses of just how important supply chains are to the national economy, and to individual wellbeing. Combine this with technological developments and environmental imperatives and it’s not difficult to understand why there is a renewed focus on freight.
In March, 91¶¶Òù convened – and Dar kindly hosted – a roundtable with experts from across air, sea, and land operations to discuss London’s role in the UK’s international freight trade and what we need to be doing to ensure the capital is fit for the future of freight.
The first point of consensus was the extent to which London really does serve the whole of the UK when it comes to freight. More than a quarter of the UK’s deep sea shipping cargo already travels through London Gateway port and capacity is expanding by 30% this decade, supported by the new Thames Freeport designation alongside the Port of Tilbury. A similar proportion of the UK’s 600 daily freight train movements move in, through, or around the capital. Despite the still unresolved capacity challenges, Heathrow remains the UK’s largest port by value, handling £200bn of goods each year – a figure that has risen in recent years. And whilst three quarters of all UK air freight travels through the capital’s airports, only one quarter of the economic value of the exports is kept in London and the South East. London is the route to the global market for businesses in every nation and region of the UK, and one of the many ways in which the capital supports levelling up.
The second key focus of the discussion was decarbonisation. Here there are two different buckets of issues. On the one hand, there is general agreement that finding cleaner modes of travel for getting goods to and from ports is essential. Not least because road haulage is also often less efficient and reliable – thanks to congestion – than rail or river transport. Even a freight train with a diesel locomotive produces around 70 â¶Ä“â¶Ä‰80% less emissions than using lorries. Despite this, 30% of the cargo at Heathrow is trucked to/​from Europe.
On the other hand, there is a need to develop cleaner fuels across all modes, from electrification of road and rail vehicles, to hydrogen powered maritime vessels, and ramping up the use of sustainable aviation fuels. Innovation across these modes is happening at pace but the solutions are at different stages of maturity, and policy and industry are yet to align around many of the solutions making it difficult for investors to allocate capital. Having clear local plans for delivering on net zero commitments is increasingly important when selling freeport-type projects internationally and attracting the private investment we need for scalable sustainable energy technologies to flourish.
Finally, there was a real desire to do more to join up the policy dots. Some of this is a challenge at the macro level, like the fact that the UK’s freeport projects are still relatively unknown around the world. Generating the right kind of additional investment will be key if the Thames Freeport zone is to maximise its potential to add industrial value and not merely act as a logistics facility. We also need to remember the important role that digital connectivity and data can play in supporting the freeport to optimise the supply chain for global freight trade, reducing transit costs, and monitoring and improving efficiency of onward delivery.
Some of the policy challenges is more of a national level issue. For example, the fact that freeport bids have been approved on the basis of what can be achieved with wider infrastructure investments, but central government approval for the freeport does not guarantee that local planning processes will permit these additional improvements – the Lower Thames Crossing being a clear case in point.
Elsewhere the priority is to break down historic modal and governmental silos. For example, the future Great British Railways could build on the rail industry’s success in dealing with construction material to connect and coordinate better with airports, not to mention light freight and parcel deliveries where trials are showing promising potential. Meanwhile the UK’s air cargo operations will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage for as long as government regulations mean that transit processing takes more than twelve times longer than it does at Middle Eastern hub airports.
There are other aspects, however, that are more local and to a greater extent within London’s control. Competing – and usually well intentioned – policies from different local authorities can make getting goods in and out of London more challenging than it should be, especially if those goods are time sensitive. Trials are being done by Thames Clippers to make better use of the river and the signs are that this offers improved efficiency and reliability. But without better coordination along the riverside, to deliver new infrastructure and practical access for vessels and onward delivery vehicles, scaling up the operation will be tough. All these latter points and more are why 91¶¶Òù continues to advocate for a Freight and Deliveries Tsar within City Hall to help join up the dots between different transport modes and tiers of policymaking.
If you are interested in getting more involved in our work relating to freight transport and international trade, please contact Adam Tyndall or John Kavanagh