16 January 2025 – Electrification for Freight by Julian Worth, Chair CILT (Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport), Railfreight Forum

Julian introduced himself – he has 45 years experience on the railway most of it working in the freight sector except for 2 months of clerical work dealing with passengers.  He did not enjoy this two month interlude and quickly returned to freight.  His career in freight management began with BR where the divisions were by commodity, later changing to a geographical split just before privatisation.  There followed another four years with EWS until a change of senior management meant that it was time to move on, although he has remained exclusively with freight with the one exception mentioned above.  After many years of working in the railfreight sector, Julian moved to the CILT where he is still involved but on a part time basis now.

There have been many changes over the years with railfreight initially having an 85% share of the market reducing to a low of 30%.  Apart from coal traffic being almost non-existent today, the good news is that freight is growing with non-coal traffic up by about 70%.  The geography has changed too with new freight tending to be long haul on main lines rather than the previous pattern of often self-contained networks and more local traffic.  Today the two largest freight sectors are consumer goods – mainly WCML, and construction materials – mainly GWML and MML so the geography has changed too.

Julian went on to talk about the locomotives used in the business with a predominance of the big diesels of Class 66, as well as Classes 60, 68 and 70.  Class 59s were very popular but it took a long time to get them running properly.  Freightliner is the only large company using electrics which include Class 90s and 92s, whilst the Railway Operations Group (ROG) have some Class 93s on trial.

The diesel fleet locomotives are aging and will be fully written down by 2035 and must not be replaced with more diesels for environmental reasons.  Other alternatives at the moment are bi-mode locomotives fuelled by HVO– hydro treated vegetable oil - whilst the Class 93 is not suitable for long-haul long and heavy freight trains.  There is a problem too with using HVO rather than diesel as it is expensive and the supply is very limited and hard to get.  The ‘end game’ is likely to be electric and the vision is big electric locomotives with batteries for short non-electrified track sections and manoeuvring within yards.

Rail was the obvious method for moving large quantities of coal in competition with road haulage but competition today is changing eg Tesco battery trucks are improving their range to nearly 200 miles now.  There is a need to decarbonise the railway or it will be little better than road with plans in place to decarbonise all freight by 2050.  Blind faith is not an option and technology will not solve everything.  Looking at a number of options, rail electrification is sensible but has often been too expensive in the past.  Costs of electrification have often been far too high which has meant that any programme for further electrification has not been considered favourably so it is important to get costs down and deliver what is needed.  Another incentive to do so is the potential to impose ULEZ on rail traffic in cities.

Julian described the pros and cons of various schemes.  Looking at electrification at Thameshaven and London Gateway was one of the examples used as illustration and how the costs can be driven down considerably with good planning and project management as well as an understanding of what is required and how to do it more cost effectively.  Even the DfT have shown a real interest having shown great doubt in the possibilities previously.  The lower costs worked out have also allowed for a profit margin for construction.

The Strategy going forward is to ensure 700 miles of wiring for freight is achieved by 2050 and electrification of the 145 miles of Felixstowe-Nuneaton, with 90-95% of freight electrically hauled.  This would require approximately 30 miles of track electrification per annum.  The priority is to achieve the ‘easy wins’ infilling unelectrified gaps in existing routes, and Julian showed some straight forward examples of how effective this would be.  At the same time electrifying gaps in Southampton and Kent would not only help to electrify freight routes but also help get rid of the need for the Class 159 diesels.  Whilst new electric freight locos are building built and tested, spare Class 92s could be used and investment in developing Class 99s as well as possibly enhancing Class 93s could be beneficial to ensure sufficient heavy electric freight loco availability.

Julian used an interesting railway map showing current electrified lines, lines already undergoing electrification, infill sections requiring urgent electrification plus other strategic freight routes for future electrification.  In the process he used a number of examples such as lines from quarries for building/construction materials and some multi-user lines where electrification would benefit passenger services too, concentrating efforts where there is growth in freight traffic rather than decline.  Other examples included keeping as much traffic cross-country to leave London area routes for London Gateway traffic.  A lot is taken into consideration in developing the Strategy including whether to use AC or DC.

Gauge clearance came into the discussion and the pros and cons of using ‘swap bodies’ or rubber tyred trailers.  Decline and development of materials to be freighted were also raised with decline of freight from Ireland through UK to Europe, but a resurgence in aggregates traffic with slate waste now being processed as a concrete extender to help replace the use of ash waste that is no longer available as an example.

We were shown lists of the main freight routes and the traffic using them and what goes into working out the best sections to electrify, the likely costs, stretches that already have gauge clearance for electrification and how difficulties encountered can be successfully addressed (eg through tunnels or under bridges).

Questions and answers were well answered and added to the information already provided, the need for modernisation and public engagement as well as politics and government support, with a final question covering the damage to roads by battery powered lorries that are heavier than current fossil fuel powered vehicles.  The vote of thanks was given by Alan Nichols highlighting the fantastic case for electrifying for freight.

A brilliant, dynamic and very positive presentation.