Rail Freight

Debate between Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and Viscount Thurso

Monday 13th April 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

How right the noble Lord is. The digital signalling programme for the east coast main line does absolutely as he describes, which is to give more capacity on the existing track. It is in train, as far as I know; it is on target and on budget for the south end of the east coast main line. It is subscribed to by all the operators, including all the freight operators that use it. One of its principal objectives is to get more train paths out of the same railway.

[Viscount Thurso (LD)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that, if we are to get a substantial move of freight on to the railways, we need to move to palletisation as opposed to containerisation as the principal unit that is used, and that to do that we need to construct proper freight villages in order to have the transfer that is necessary, and that without those infrastructure improvements we will not get to the target?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

It was a privilege for me to open the ninth Maritime Transport rail freight hub in Northampton about six weeks ago. I had a long discussion with John Williams, the chief executive, and we discussed precisely that. We were discussing how we should measure this, because tonnage is maybe not the best way of measuring container loads—in fact, the numbers of containers might be a better method of doing it, if we could find a way. The Government are very active in this, as am I personally. It is clear that intermodal container traffic, and indeed national container traffic, is the largest growth feature of this market and we should do everything we can to encourage it.

Public Transport: Remote Communities

Debate between Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and Viscount Thurso

Monday 9th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I agree with my noble friend absolutely. More to the point, the ferry operators recognise that, too, as befits the ordering of new ships with reduced carbon emissions and the experimentation to the Isles of Scilly to which I previously referred.

[Viscount Thurso (LD)]

My Lords, I am sure the Minister will recognise that many remote rural areas are particularly reliant on their rail services. Coming from Thurso, which is the most northerly station on the main line of the United Kingdom, I recognise both the fragility and importance of the Far North Line. While I recognise that much of the responsibility for that lies with the Scottish Government, does he agree with me that the creation of Great British Railways offers the potential for a reset between the various companies that are responsible: ScotRail, Network Rail and Great British Railways? To that end, what discussions is he having with the Scottish Government?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

The noble Viscount is certainly right to say that the railway to Wick and Thurso is a lifeline. In answer to his question, we have had a lot of cordial discussion with the Scottish Government, which is resulting in a methodology of operation proposed as a consequence of establishing Great British Railways, which will continue the integration of operations and infrastructure in Scotland and therefore continue the operation of that line into what one would hope to be the very, very distant future.

North Sea Vessel Collision

Debate between Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill and Viscount Thurso

Thursday 13th March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for that question. The answer is that a significant number of experienced bodies and people are involved in making sure that the consequences of this incident are fully investigated, and that the safety of the environment, the two ships and their remaining cargoes are looked after. I do not think there is any doubt that the nation is served well by a number of the bodies I have mentioned and that they are working professionally and extremely hard to resolve this incident with no damage to the environment and no—or, sadly, at least no further—loss of life.

[Viscount Thurso (LD)]

My Lords, my noble friend on the Front Bench mentioned the “Braer” incident, and I remember well the “Ascania” incident off the coast of Caithness. Both events led Alistair Carmichael and me to lobby for a tug to be based at Kirkwall. Can I follow up with the Minister on an answer he gave earlier? Like many who live on the coast, I follow the shipping, and I see it on the horizon or one of many radar apps. Is it not now time to look, in busy shipping lanes such as the channel, the North Sea and the Pentland Firth, at some form of equivalent to air traffic control, so that somebody has an eye out and some form of warning can be given based on that?

[Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)]

It is very tempting, in an age when so much is instantly available on every sort of media, including social media, to draw some conclusions about not only how this incident occurred but what should be done to make sure that such a thing never happens again. It is really important for us all to be continent and to allow the Marine Accident Investigation Branch to do its investigation, draw all the necessary conclusions and follow through on the actions required from those.