Cross Channel rail freight is being given a route back through Barking, allowing containers to visit Europe by train while lorries enjoy the rare British luxury of not being blamed for every road within shouting distance of the M20.
Network Rail and its property development company, Platform4, have agreed long term control of the Barking Eurohub site in east London. The arrangement includes around £15 million of private investment to develop an international logistics hub and help pave the way for regular intermodal freight services through the Channel Tunnel.
This is not a magical railway in which every parcel leaves Barking and arrives in Paris wearing a beret. It is an infrastructure project, which means freight still needs routes, terminals and several adults agreeing which clipboard is legally more important than the other clipboards. Britain has finally discovered a way to make continental ambition sound like a meeting about storage.
The Department for Transport says renewed rail freight could reduce congestion, pollution and potholes, particularly around the Dartford Crossing and the M20 and M2 corridors. The motorway network has received this news with the quiet alarm of an institution being told that some of its workload may have been self inflicted.
Most freight travelling between Britain and Europe currently goes by sea before continuing by road. The proposed services could let more goods move directly by rail to France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Scottish whisky, white goods and fresh produce may therefore spend less time being passed between lorries and more time experiencing the elegant uncertainty of a wagon whose paperwork has survived.
The announcement presents the scheme as a boost for trade, jobs and sustainable transport. It also makes clear that the return of regular services still has to be achieved. Britain has not quite brought back the train. It has brought back the possibility of the train, which is how this country likes to handle both infrastructure and optimism.
Supporters say the Channel Tunnel is underused for this purpose, while the government says rail freight volumes have been growing. The Barking scheme is meant to turn spare capacity into a working connection between British businesses and continental customers. The lorries will not vanish. They will be demoted to supporting actors, still carrying the plot whenever a crane loses a container, a timetable develops feelings or a motorway requires another emergency meeting about itself.
