§ Tom BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the impact of the closure of RailMail on vehicle movements in London. [102420]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe Royal Mail Board has decided to review the future of the MailRail system for operational and commercial reasons. The company envisages only a handful of extra vehicles will be needed after MailRail is taken out of service, as a high proportion of the mail carried will be transported on existing vehicle routes.
Royal Mail is continually striving to reduce the impact of its vehicular traffic in London by contributing to reductions in congestion and CO2 emissions. The company has already seen a dramatic reduction in the number of miles and journeys undertaken by Royal Mail vehicles in the capital. For example, the switch of sorting NW postcode mail to Greenford from the London North Mail Centre, in Almeida Street, N1, cut the maximum journey time from 45 to just 25 minutes.