HC Deb 10 July 2000 vol 353 cc401-2W
Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what will be the(a) initial and (b) longer-term cargo-deck heights on the sprinter trains proposed by the winner of the recent rail freight competition; and if the layout of their longer-term sprinter-train design has been finalised. [129997]

Mr. Hill

The deck-height of the Railtrack MPVC (multi-purpose vehicle container) used in the trials is 120 mm and of the intermediate container flats 100 mm. Further development of the Multi-Purpose Vehicle into a freight Multiple Unit will be on the basis of a 1100 mm deck-height.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what the target date is for having new road-rail equipment and systems in-service to allow containers arriving at docks to reach their final destinations by rail. [129998]

Mr. Hill

9' 6" deep sea containers can be conveyed on most rail routes today. The shadow Strategic Rail Authority is developing a routing and gauge enhancement strategy with Railtrack intended to permit the carriage of 9' 6" high ISO containers on the network in the forecast over the next 20 years. The implementation of the various stages of this plan will be flexible.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what will be the maximum cargo height on the piggyback trailer systems that have been proposed by the winner of the recent rail freight competition. [129996]

Mr. Hill

The maximum cargo-height will be 3.4 m permitting the conveyance of the semi-trailer of 9' 6" ISO containers in the wagon pockets or a C45 Swapbody over SB1-c cleared routes. SB1-c is Swapbody clearance agreement version c. This is an agreement between freight operators and the Channel Tunnel operators concerning maximum dimensions for swapbody containers which will be conveyed through the channel tunnel and also on such internal rail lines within Great Britain as have been cleared to that standard.

Mr. Jenkin

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for which loading gauges the piggyback trains that have been proposed by the winner of the recent rail freight competition will be suitable.[129999]

Mr. Hill

The piggyback trailer on the multi-modal wagon will conform to the Railtrack W6A loading gauge, enabling it to run over most of the rail network.