Rail freight

In the December issue of Modern Railways at P.14 there is a worrying note at
the bottom of the blue panel in the top LH corner about freight being lost
to other modes because of strike threats against EWS. Does any one know
what this about? Is this another example of the damaging effect that threats
of industrial action can have? Still I expect that if the EWS staff suddenly
find their services no longer required they can always take up lorry driving
or airport baggage handling.
MJW

"M.Whitson" <mjw@pyu156.> wrote in message news:<coae5a$kcl$2$8300dec7@news.>...
> In the December issue of Modern Railways at P.14 there is a worrying note at
> the bottom of the blue panel in the top LH corner about freight being lost
> to other modes because of strike threats against EWS. Does any one know
> what this about? Is this another example of the damaging effect that threats
> of industrial action can have? Still I expect that if the EWS staff suddenly
> find their services no longer required they can always take up lorry driving
> or airport baggage handling.
> MJW

I thought it was odd that this quite serious matter was just dealt
with in a footnote. It wasn't entirely clear to me whether the traffic
has been permanently lost to rail, or whether it's being transferred
to other modes as a precaution for the duration of the dispute. It's
very sad if these two services (Safeway containers to the far North
and Walsall-Scotland parcels) have finished forever, as they seemed to
offer a hope that rail freight had the potential to develop new
markets.

Andy Kirkham
Glasgow