Rail plan for London building materials

The London Legacy Development Corporation is to consider a proposal to bring building materials into the heart of London by rail removing up to 350 movements a day from London’s road.

The scheme would make use of DB Cargo’s goods yard at Bow East, which was used in the construction of the London 2012 Olympics site.

The LLDC will this month consider three separate planning applications that have been submitted from S Walsh & Sons, Brett Concrete and Hope Construction Materials. United Asphalt has also submitted pre-application plans.

The parties would lease their sections of the site from DB Cargo UK, and building materials would be brought into the heart of London by rail.

Much of the material handled on site will be secondary aggregates which will be recycled to make products such as concrete, asphalt and building blocks.

Les Morris, head of sales at DB Cargo UK, said: “Construction demand in London results in a much higher requirement for building materials and bringing these in by rail means fewer trucks on the road.

“The site is one of the last large rail connected sites in the capital. We are currently running two trains per day from the site, which move the equivalent of 140 lorry loads per day that would otherwise be transported by road.

“If permission is granted we expect to run around five trains per day which would remove approximately 350 long distance road movements per day from London’s roads, bringing a positive impact for other road users and the environment.”

Westley Pickup, commercial director of S Walsh & Sons, said: “We have worked closely with DB Cargo UK to develop a solution that will massively reduce lorry movements across London. We want the local community to know that our approach is different and supports our motto of ‘helping to build a greener, greater London’.”