A Rail Freight Company Will Lose

EWS says this is due to a failure to restore full Channel Tunnel freight services by early this month. There would be a full and reliable service by early September. Sadly they are still not getting a full service, and companies will again miss out on the busy pre-Christmas period when so many goods are moved. Freight services through the Channel Tunnel have been seriously disrupted for months because asylum seekers from a refugee camp close to the Frethun freight terminal near Calais constantly board the trains. Although the frequency of services has improved, EWS is unhappy that French train company SNCF has said that services will only be operating for 13 hours a day, rather than the 24-hour running that it wants. September always sees the beginning of goods being stockpiled for Christmas. Traditionally, wine and foodstuffs are imported from France, items such as leather goods come from Italy and large number of electrical goods and other items from Spain, France, Italy and Germany. For a second successive year, they are being hit at a very busy time, and all this will do will help to push more freight on to the roads - contrary to Government policy. The 13-hour operation we have at present can only provide 75% of a full service at best. This may be all right for some customers, but it's no good for others. Rail companies cannot sort this out. The only people who can are the politicians in London and Paris. ©

&to=http://www.ews-railway.co.uk/' target=_blank>EWS

&to=http://www.rfg.org.uk/rfg2.html' target=_blank>Rail Frieght