Rail link to wine store cuts lorry congestion
A FIRM that operates Europe's biggest wine warehouse says it is taking thousands of lorries off Bristol's road network every year thanks to a newly reopened rail link.
The firm that runs the massive warehouse in Avonmouth has been part of a scheme that has reopened a stretch of track and a disused freight depot close to Temple Meads station.
Every year an estimated nine million bottles of wine will go through the depot on their journey to the Constellation warehouse.
The re-opening of the rail link and the depot means the wine can be shipped directly from the South East ferry ports, rather than driven across the country by lorries. Under the joint scheme operated by Network Rail and Freightliner, seven trains packed with booze rumble into the South Liberty Lane depot every week.
Trans Ocean is a world leader in the wine market and manages the movement of wine imports to the mega warehouse in Avonmouth, which is owned by Constellation Europe.
According to the company, the rail depot means at least 10,000 lorries have been taken off Bristol's road and motorway network – the equivalent of more than one million road miles of lorry journeys.
Simon Williams, from Constellation Wines Australia and Europe, said: "The new initiatives enable us both to streamline our supply chain operations and reduce carbon emissions.
"We are extremely happy to endorse and implement the innovative initiatives that Trans Ocean will provide."
Peter Willey, senior freight manager at Network Rail, said: "Britain relies on rail and the value of rail freight is considerable. For businesses, rail freight can offer a cheaper, quicker and more practical alternative to moving goods by road.
"Almost £700 million of social and environment benefits each year can be attributed to freight traffic on Britain's railways. For instance, around 80,000 tonnes of waste from Bristol are removed by rail annually.
"Without the railway, the anticipated growth in freight traffic over the next 30 years would mean an extra 1.5 million lorry journeys on Britain's roads each year. Each freight train can take up to 60 lorries off the roads and shifting traffic from already congested roads to rail will bring greater future benefits."
Other firms and companies in Bristol that rely on rail freight include Bristol City Council, Whatley, Merehead and Bristol Port.
Demand for rail freight has grown by 70 per cent over the last decade across the country. This demand is predicted to grow by 30 per cent over the next decade.
Government figures show that in the next ten years, rail freight could deliver environmental benefits worth more than £4 billion.
4 Comments
by happychappy8
Monday, July 18 2011, 8:00AM
“I used to work for this company, The whole site is poorly run, There are freightliner staff steeling wine at weekends., There are agency workers made to painting bulkheads with TOXIC paint with very little ventilation. The roof of the main building is completly made of aspesdos.
none of the agency staff have correct PPE. The NOISE is made by the Horns of the vehicles
And drilling out bolts from containers at 6oclock in morning , then all day . IM GLAD im not living near by . It also has come to my attention that the empty toxic paint tins are disposed of in a waiste skip, Not meant for toxic items ..
THIS place NEEDS looking in to .... EXP the workshop down bottom of yard....
The wine that is left in containers is not disposed of correctly its left to run down drains.
HAZE recruit 4 pepole on site, to paint , as freightliner staff refuse to breath in the Toxic chemicals. I feel for the agency staff. I know there Health is at Risk.”
by Paul, South Bristol
Friday, July 30 2010, 4:58PM
“I live very nearby to the newly re-opened site and can categorically confirm that James' comment about the added traffic congestion is absolutely correct.
In fact, my home overlooks the site and since Freightliner moved in in early June (without any public consultation) there has been approximately 40 lorries in and out of the site on a daily basis - this includes peak times for commuter traffic and all other hours, including 6am and 10pm.
They obviously arrive at South Liberty Lane via Winterstoke Road, which, as anyone who drives through on a regular basis knows, has many bottlenecks and is a trial at the best of times (unless, as many drivers do, you ignore the highway code and approach the south facing roundabouts in the right hand lane and then cut in at the last minute).
I find it hard to believe this additional congestion is allowed, particularly with the recent controversy about the proposed redevelopment of Ashton Gate into a Sainsbury's megastore being turned down - one of the reasons being the road infrastructure not being sufficient to support any additional traffic on the road.
Digressing slightly, but seeing an opportunity to air my personal grievances with this situation, please allow me to also add that life in my home, with the added traffic, the freight arriving by train (usually 5am every morning and also at weekends), the cranes moving the freight to and from the HGV vehicles and other associated noise pollution has made life very unpleasant indeed.
Some might accuse me of nimby-ism... If so, please feel free to leave your home address so I can share this experience with you by driving to your back garden at 5am, rev my engine continuously, beep my horn and crash into nearby walls to create the same effect.”
by James, South West
Thursday, July 29 2010, 6:01PM
“This report is obviously based on a press release from the company concerned - without press releases from organisations there would be few stories in the Post.
This means that sensible questions like the one posed by Dave Harries won't be answered because no journalist would have been assigned to the story to ask the question in the first place, apart from slightly re-jigging the press release.
So in the absence of a contrary explanation, and there doesn't seem to be a realistic alternative, seven train loads of booze will be transferred by road from South Liberty Lane to Avonmouth each week.
Rather than removing lorries from Bristol's roads this concentrated movement will add to the congestion.”
by Dave Harries, Stoke Bishop, Bristol
Thursday, July 29 2010, 12:25PM
“It is great that lorries are being taken off the road by use of this rail link. However how do they get the booze from South Liberty Lane to Avonmouth? I presume they use lorries.
Would it not have made more sense to reopen the long-disused line that crossed the A403 just north of Kingsweston Lane, Avonmouth? The line that used this crossing ran right down the side of the depot but the line down the side of the depot is now covered by an embankment. Surely it would have been better to reopen the line at Avonmouth instead of South Liberty Lane?”