The first freight train has departed the London Gateway superport just a month before it’s officially due to open for business. According to DP World, the company behind the superport project, the breakdown of cargo transported from and to the port will be roughly 70% by road and 30% by rail. See here for the story in the Thurrock Gazette:http://www.thurrockgazette.co.uk/news/10733810.First_ever_train_leaves_superport/
If the port is due to open in a month, then a lot of the associated transport infrastructure isn’t going to be ready in time if what I saw alongside the Manorway down by the foot of The Sorrells when I was out working yesterday is anything to go by. This still resembles a construction site in it’s early stages to my albeit untrained eye. Granted, it’ll take some time for the volume of cargo coming through the port to build up but long suffering residents in the area would like some guarantee that the lag between it opening for business and the transport infrastructure being completed isn’t going to cause any more chaos than we have already.
On the subject of freight trains and the related rail infrastructure, while we’ve noticed the shiny new two track rail link going down to the port with associated earth banking to protect the residents of the St. Margaret’s estate from extra noise, there are a number of unresolved issues…
There is going to be a significant increase in freight movements on the railway from the superport through Grays and onto Rainham – some of these will be run at night to avoid potential disruption to passenger services. The problem is that if you live in East Tilbury where currently the only access into and out of the settlement is via a road that crosses the railway via a level crossing. People in East Tilbury will have to be spending more time waiting at the level crossing for freight trains to pass before they can move. Imagine the scenario if an ambulance is called out to East Tilbury but ends up stuck on the wrong side of the gates as a freight train lumbers its way through. Any delay could well be a matter of life and death. Given that the superport has been in the planning and construction stage for some years, you’d have thought that the relevant authorities and companies would have got together to come up with a workable solution. That sadly does not seem to be the case…
Then there’s the issue of noise from the freight trains as they pass through Tilbury, Grays, West Thurrock and Purfleet. To meet government imposed targets for the provision of land to accommodate new housing, numerous brownfield sites alongside the railway have been built upon with high density houses and flats. More such developments are mooted, particularly the one at Purfleet, part of which will be on the site of what used to be Thames Board Mills which abuts both sides of the railway. People already living in or moving into these developments aren’t going to be too impressed if they are woken at night by freight trains lumbering along the tracks just yards from their homes.
Noise abatement measures in the form of large wooden walls have been put in place alongside the Channel Tunnel Link as it runs by the c2c line as it crosses Rainham Marshes. Similar measure will be desperately needed if the lives of people living alongside the railway aren’t going to be made a misery. It looks as though people affected by this are going to have to fight long and hard to get this simple measure implemented…
Keeping on the subject of noise, while it looks as though some sound proofing measures are being put in place at the junction of the Manorway and the A13, further down towards The Sorrells, there’s no sign of anything being put in place. Which is worrying because when the port and logistics park are both fully operational, if noise abatement measures aren’t put in place alongside the Manorway, then the lives of the people living alongside it will be unbearable.
All we hear about the superport and the associated logistics park is how many jobs will be created – all well and good but if you’re a local whose sleep is seriously disrupted by a near continuous stream of traffic, you won’t be in a fit state to work! Because of the number of jobs that are promised by the superport, we’re all expected to be pathetically grateful and anyone raising legitimate concerns is dismissed as a NIMBY who is against progress of any kind. All of which is symptomatic of social and economic order where growth is deemed to be of considerably more importance than quality of life issues.
The fact that residents are still having to fight over basic issues such as access to and from East Tilbury plus securing noise abatement measures shows that there’s a heck of a lot wrong with the way major infrastructure plans are mooted and implemented. Major projects such as an entire new superport and the associated transport infrastructure are going to have a major impact on the lives of people. Yet these projects seem to get imposed with the attitude that if there are quality of life issues, it’s tough luck. There’s no meaningful dialogue with local residents to identify problems in advance, let alone work together to ensure they are resolved as the project develops. That’s what you get with a top down planning system that places the emphasis on economic growth and doesn’t seem to care about quality of life issues…
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