Bow’s Good Yard in East London, which neighbours 30 acres of brownfield land recently made available since the London 2012 Olympics, is currently in the planning stages to become London’s biggest freight interchange point.

Plans have been laid out by Network Rail Property to upgrade and expand upon the existing site, which is already one of London’s major freight interchanges. The current site having now reached capacity.

At the moment Bow is a key player when it come to the construction industry in London, it handles over one million tonnes of concrete every year, and supplies many building materials such as beams, girders, glass, aggregates along with many other specialist building materials for construction.

The new plans that have been set out will continue to provide for future construction projects in London but on a bigger scale, enabling projects across London to be completed quickly, such as new hospitals, housing and schools.

More frequent trains will carry the projected 3.5 million tonnes of materials to what will become London’s biggest freight logistics hub, before they are taken on their last journey to the building sites across the capital.

The hope is that Bow’s new larger freight terminal will become a national pioneer model for other cities to follow in the future in the regeneration of rail freight.

Consultation

Several consultations with local communities, businesses, residents and stakeholders have taken place prior to the submission of the plans.

They include delivering benefits for the local communities, such as:

• Increasing the number of local jobs at the site from 100 staff to over 5,000.
• Improving connections and routes, speeding up journeys and deliveries.
• Creating a sustainable working environment and making industry a better neighbour for local residents.

£2.5 billon pounds is generated by rail freight every year to the UK economy, with it projected to rise by an impressive 75% by 2050 with in the next quarter of a centaury.

Analysts project that several businesses will switch to rail freight in the coming years as efforts to become more sustainable take precedence.

Last Mile Logistics Hub

The new plans also include a far more integrated last mile logistics hub. This will remove approximately 90,000 HGVs from the capitals roads that currently make the long time-consuming journey into London from off the motorways.

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The removal of these lorries will see the air in London become cleaner and it will free up congestion on the capitals roads.

The plans submitted include maximum capacity of the site, in the terms of the layout of railway sidings and rail to road interchanges.

A new hub for Network Rail, warehouses and works spaces will be built across 190,000m² to oversee and carryout operations, while at the same time streamlining current operations to speed up the transfer process.

There will also be concrete-batching facilities onsite to ensure any concrete is up to standard before it leaves the yard.

Leisure facilities and open spaces

Additionally, the site’s plans include proposed leisure facilities across a 32,000m² area, as well as the incorporation of green and open spaces.

A hectare of land nearest the Olympic Park site will be retained for public use, including 5,000m² space for sports fields.

“This masterplan takes an ambitious approach to unlocking a challenging site and putting infrastructure at its heart. By reimaging the land-use, we are creating a state-of-the-art freight, warehousing and logistics campus that is vital to London.”

“The scheme supports a more sustainable capital with the new green spaces and leisure areas positively contributing to the local community now and for future generations. Being a better, more sustainable neighbour is a clear priority for us.” 

Robin Dobson, Group Property Director at Network Rail