THE CROSSRAIL line runs underground from Liverpool St to Paddington and overground to the west of Paddington towards Reading, and to the east toward Chelmsford. Jerry McLaughlin, director of economics and public affairs at the Quarry Products Association (QPA) explains that to the west of London in particular there are a whole series of aggregates depots bordering the Great Western line. “About 5m tonnes of aggregates come up there every year,” he says. “That is threatened by compulsory purchase orders on the depots by the Crossrail operator because they want the depots for their own purposes.”

McLaughlin says that access to the rail depots is more of an immediate issue for aggregate suppliers. “There have been a lot of negotiations between the companies who own the depots and Crossrail,” he says. “It’s likely there will be some agreements entered into which will enable the industry to continue using them.”

McLaughlin says a longer-term issue is that if and when Crossrail is initiated, it will have priority use of any network it runs on. “At the moment, if a freight operator wants to change their use of the line; ultimately the office of the rail regulator sorts it out.” But McLaughlin explains that the Bill will give the Crossrail operator the power to prioritise passenger needs over freight. “If they want to run eight, 12 or 16 trains an hour they can do it and everyone else has to fit in around them,” McLaughlin says. He adds that it isn’t necessarily a problem if there’s enough capacity on the line.

“Crossrail have said it will carry out various investments to ensure there is enough capacity for it and everyone else, but the trouble is they won’t actually commit to a legally binding agreement,” he says.

“In the Bill there’s a list of projects they need to carry out to ensure the capacity is there for everyone else but they won’t accept an amendment to the Bill to say you have to do this.” McLaughlin says that this is the QPA’s main concern, particularly considering the pressure to cut costs. “The treasury is getting twitchy about costs and public sector contribution. Although Crossrail is saying now that they will carry out these investments, if you move along five or six years when costs are being tightened, our concern is they’ll turn round and say ‘we haven’t got a legal commitment to make these investments.’”

Chris Dobbs, the director of estates and geology at Tarmac is also concerned about the eventual impact the scheme will have on transporting aggregates into and around the London region. “Many rail freight industry stakeholders, including Tarmac, are concerned that the takeover of some of the existing network by Crossrail passenger trains will have a damaging effect on the overall capacity of the network around London,” he says. “The intended frequency of Crossrail services could result in a long-term reduction in the capacity for rail-borne aggregate deliveries.”

The Crossrail Bill is expected to go through Parliament some time next year, with plans to start building in 2008 and have an operational service in 2014 to 2015. McLaughlin says it is uncertain how it will affect the Olympics. “The long-term capacity issue is unlikely to be an Olympics issue,” he says, “because Crossrail wouldn’t be operating in the build up to the Games.”

McLaughlin says his main concern is the immediate effects of the project on the construction industry. “If they start the construction process, and there is a problem getting our aggregates access through the depots that still have compulsory purchase orders on them, there could be a supply problem.” He explains that as the Bill proceeds through Parliament, the companies who have depots in the area are trying to negotiate continuing access to their sites.

“I think it’s likely, that in most cases that should work but it’s not all cut and dry yet,” he says. One area that could see an increase if the Crossrail Bill goes through in its current form is the use of marine aggregates. Mark Russell, director of British Marine Aggregate Product Association (BMAPA) says the South East is the biggest market for marine aggregates. “We supply 10m tonnes a year into the region as a whole, which is about half of the total production.” Of that, he says about 7m tonnes go to wharfs along the River Thames and around 3m tonnes are supplied to wharfs along the south coast. “When you break down the level of supply into the Thames, it works out at about 18,000 to 20,000 tonnes of sand and gravel delivered a day, which is four big ships continually going backwards and forwards along the river.”

The wharfs are spread along the river at the estuary from places such as Cliff and up to Greenwich. Russell says that marine aggregate reserves are very well positioned to be able to supply the London market. “Around half of all sand and gravel used in construction in Central London comes from marine supplies,” he says. “Getting the material to the wharf is only part of the challenge because once its been delivered to the wharf and processed it then has to get to the site, and a number of the wharfs do have rail heads that are likely to be affected by the Crossrail proposals.

Russell says that the greatest challenge for all sources of supply is getting the product from the point of delivery, to the point where it’s actually required. “The wharf facilities are there and they have the capacity to supply more,” he says.

In order to transport marine aggregates to the Olympic site a new lock system would have to be installed to allow barges to transfer from the main river close to the site. Russell says he is unsure if this work will be carried out. “Everything is quite up in the air at the moment and nobody seems to know how the material is going to be supplied,” he says.

“Obviously from our point of view if the channel and the lock system is improved, marine aggregates offer an attractive potential source of supply.”

Environmental issues may also be high on the agenda regarding transporting aggregates to the Olympic site. Russell says there are certain environmental advantages to marine supply because of the reduction in the number of lorry journeys in the city. McLaughlin agrees: “One would envisage that in view of all the sustainability issues that there will be a desire to get aggregates into the site by non-road means as much as possible,” he says. “Marine will play an important role, how significant is still uncertain.”

A Select Committee in the House of Commons is currently considering the Crossrail Bill and a number of changes to the scheme are being looked at to address concerns, or otherwise improve the project design. Negotiations about depot access and long-term capacity issues will continue, but the future remains uncertain for aggregate suppliers.

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