Peyote wrote:
Pete317 wrote:
Fine. Now we just need to calculate:
a) the number of trains we'd need to transport all those trucks
Probably a few, but there is alot of rolling stock around that isn't being used to full capacity.
Think we'd need tougher engines to haul that kind of weight around.
Peyote wrote:
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b) the amount of extra track we'd need to accommodate all those trains
The railway network is underused at the moment, it just (ha!) needs completely new tracks and a decent management!
It would need specialised track and tougher wagons to accommodate the weight of all those mega ton juggernauts - plus the entire landscape and infrastructure would need a complet rebuild.
We ain't got the time nor the money - even if we had comptetent managers
Peyote wrote:
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c) how many depots we'd need
A few again, but there's plenty of space left over from when trains were actually invested in (unused sidings, derelict stations etc...). Pretty much all brownfield sites too.
Er ... warehousing requires space and we have already used up some of the browfield sites for town housing and office blocks inmany areas...
Peyote wrote:
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d) how long it would take to load/unload the trains
I think the point was they would be roll on, roll off, as the Chunnel is, so the transfer would take very little time. The major effort involved would be loading the HGVs in the first place. No doubt lessons could be learnnt from cross channel ferries too.
Each time I've use the Tunnel - loading and unloading have been slow - with ferry roll on/off marginally quicker.
But these trucks still have to pick their way from out of town depots and train terminals to the shops. It would push up prices and not resolve any issues either.
All the supermarkets in Cumbria are not near train stations - so we'd be no better off from this. This is same in most areas - out of town superstores and so on...which never shut shop either!
Peyote wrote:
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e) how much parking area we'd require at each depot for trucks waiting to be transported
Would depend on the management system, if transfers were organised HGVs would drive into the depot and straight on the train (sorry, idealistic again!).
You still have to have load these HGVs at a warehouse and they still have to drive to these depots just the same to continue their journey. YThen no doubt to another localised warehouse to be despatched on tothe retail outlet per their ordering systems. Remember these stores order what they can sell. High street shops are example - what sells well in one store may not sell as well in another. They order according to local taste and what shifts in the store.
Peyote wrote:
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f) how many extra local roads we'd need to avoid congestion caused by trucks funnelling into and out of the depots.
But the motorways would be empty!
They'd still be using them to reach the retail outlets - which would be miles from the depot!.
Peyote wrote:
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g) how much fuel the trains are going to use, in comparison to what the trucks would use travelling by road.
They would be moving more mass so maybe more fuel would be used, however the power would come from one source (single diesel engine/electricity), so efficiences may suggest otherwise.
And with trains using electricity? What happens in a power cut?
Peyote wrote:
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Better still, build more motorways and get rid of the speed limiters.
Build more motorways and people will build more vehicles, it's a bit of a viscious circle. I thought the point was to get HGVs off roads and allow more space for private vehicle use.
But then we could do as EU do and ban HGVs at weekend
Peyote wrote:
Thinking about it, I have seen HGVs and trains carrying shipping containers. I'd imagine this would be faster than unloading a trains contents onto lorries using pallets and forklift.
But they still have to get to a retail outlet in a place miles from a depot!