Many thanks to Tusker reader, William Henderson, for feeding me this story.
There has been much in the news of the likely chaos in the Kent ports and the looming no-deal Brexit makes it seem inevitable. There has even been talk of a trade border between Kent and the rest of the UK with lorries only allowed into the county and its massive lorry parks.
Ireland has been busy building super-ferries in an attempt to bypass England altogether and now we see an attempt by the Port of Grangemouth to make a similar move. This report in the Insider is worth reading in full, link below, and opens with:
The Port of Grangemouth has today announced a multi-million pound rail freight investment. The investment will aim to improve its position as a key strategic freight and import/export hub as the southern UK ports face Brexit-induced increased congestion. The £3m investment will significantly scale up and modernise the port’s current rail capacity to create an extended dual rail siding of 775 metres – currently 200 metres – capable of handling the longest freight trains on the UK network. When operational early next year, Grangemouth’s will be the first rail freight terminal to offer this and provide enhanced container / domestic intermodal options particularly for customers in the food, drink and perishables sectors across the Scottish freight community.
https://www.insider.co.uk/news/port-grangemouth-announces-multi-million-23144821
For more on the Irish super-ferries:
https://talkingupscotlandtwo.com/2020/11/20/better-off-out-from-under-the-uks-broad-shoulders/
The debacle with the English embargo on Scottish procurement of PPE during the Covid crisis,has rammed home the importance of having separate/independent supply chains and routes.
This is a good start.
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Scot Gov should be looking at all north sea ports as to whether
The Ports on East Coast of Scotland can be addapted
To allow all freight and public ferries to and from Europe
We need that for our Independence.
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