{"id":285326,"date":"2025-09-16T23:48:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:48:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=65972"},"modified":"2025-09-16T23:48:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T13:48:28","slug":"member-of-parliament-backs-new-tarmac-rail-freight-flow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=285326","title":{"rendered":"Member of Parliament backs new Tarmac rail freight flow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a9Hazel Grove is a leafy corner of the leafy corner of southeast Stockport, Greater Manchester. It has the feel of an urban village, and the local Member of Parliament, Lisa Smart, would like for it to remain that way. That\u2019s why she has shown her support for increasing the volume of rail freight to minimise the number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on local roads.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

On a visit to Tarmac and its rail freight operations in the neighbouring village of Bredbury, the Member of Parliament (MP) was shown a freight train unloading materials carried by rail from Tarmac\u2019s Tunstead quarry in the Peak District, across the county line in Derbyshire. Lisa Smart heard how a delivery by just this one freight train can provide the materials to deliver up to 30 new local homes and remove around 60 HGV movements from the A6 and local approach roads and residential streets.<\/p>\n

First rail freight delivery<\/h2>\n

Constituents on the not-so-mean streets of Hazel Grove may not be aware of just how much traffic is kept off their neighbourhood roads, thanks to rail freight. The MP\u2019s visit came on the day when Tarmac received its first rail delivery from its quarry in South Wales. Construction materials are also delivered to Bredbury from North Yorkshire, meaning a daily freight service comes into the site on average.<\/p>\n

From the railway, the train\u2019s cargo is used to manufacture materials such as asphalt or ready-mixed concrete. It\u2019s then moved by road for the last remaining miles to local construction and road building projects. In addition to minimising the impact on local roads from HGVs, Tarmac\u2019s site is minimising its quarrying impact by reusing asphalt planings removed from roads during resurfacing. The current site is able to repurpose and reuse material. Tarmac plans to modernise the site, which will mean that this recycling rate will increase further into the future.<\/p>\n

\"Tarmac
Tarmac Bredbury welcomes Lisa Smart MP (centre right of the image). Image: \u00a9 Tarmac<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Freight onto rail, better for everyone<\/h2>\n

\u201cI am a huge supporter of rail,\u201d said Lisa Smart, speaking after the visit. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see it being used to carry the materials needed to construct the new schools, homes and road improvements we need in the area. We need to make more use of rail for freight. It\u2019s good for the environment and we have real issues with local road congestion \u2013 the more we can move freight onto rail, the better it is for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the visit, the team from Tarmac explained the investment in rail at Tunstead and elsewhere<\/a>, \u00a0the challenges of quarrying the vital building materials which deliver the new homes, transport improvements and the developments and create new jobs and local economic growth. Forthcoming rail legislation, and ensuring that any changes enable more rail freight rather than reduce it, were also discussed. \u201cIt was great to hear that Tarmac is developing the plant to increase the volume of material which is recycled and reused from road resurfacing,\u201d added Smart.<\/p>\n

Homes and jobs for local people<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt was a pleasure to welcome our local MP to the site,\u201d said Chris Swan, Tarmac\u2019s Head of Rail for UK and Europe<\/a>, who also sits as chair of the industry representative body, the Rail Freight Group. \u201cWe sustainably deliver the materials needed to help grow the local economy and provide homes for local people, while minimising the impact on residents in and around the area. We believe that Bredbury and sites like it will enable us to support the Government\u2019s house building targets over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to meet Lisa and demonstrate the benefits of rail freight,\u201d said Huw Merriman, the former government minister who represents the Rail Freight Group. He applauds the reduction in pollution, road damage and congestion which rail freight helps deliver. \u201cTarmac\u2019s products provide new homes and jobs for local people. In the UK, we only deliver seven per cent of freight by rail, and we can do much more. We are pleased that Lisa shares our ambition that proposed reforms of the railway must retain the legal certainty and pricing incentives and encourage freight growth on the railway.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a9Hazel Grove is a leafy corner of the leafy corner of southeast Stockport, Greater Manchester. It has the feel of an urban village, and the\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10821,14866,7092,126,18165,106,78,109,47,13289,8793,85],"tags":[12634],"class_list":["post-285326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bredbury","category-chris-swan","category-hazel-grove","category-huw-merriman","category-lisa-smart","category-manchester","category-rail-freight","category-rail-freight-group","category-rail-news","category-south-wales","category-tarmac","category-uk","tag-railfreight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t