The fire at an electrical substation at Hayes resulted in the closure of London Heathrow airport for most of 21st March with an air traffic disruption that was felt worldwide. The power outage led to more than 270,000 journeys being affected.
While the restoration of near normal activity was faster than many had feared, both passenger and freight transport were severely impacted, as well as the residents and businesses in the area served by this substation.
On 8th May, the BBC reported that the cause of the fire remained unknown but that a final report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) could be expected by the end of June. In its interim report, Neso declared that: “The fire at the North Hyde substation, which was built in the 1960s, started at 23:21 GMT on 20 March and resulted in a ‘simultaneous loss of connection’.
“The power outage affected 66,919 domestic and commercial customers, including Heathrow Airport.”
The Metropolitan Police believed that the fire and power outage was not the result of a terrorist incident, so it is likely that this was an example of how areas of the national infrastructure have been ill-managed and neglected. And this problem not only affects air transport, but rail and road as well.
UK infrastructure development
The UK government’s strategy for improving the UK’s infrastructure across a number of areas from 2025, including transport, was outlined in an informative post by Infraspec. This states that: “The government’s 10-year infrastructure strategy includes significant transport investments with £4.8 billion allocated to National Highways for 2025/26 as interim funding. This supports ongoing road maintenance and development whilst the comprehensive strategy is finalised.
“Railway improvements remain a priority, with continued investment in major lines and regional connectivity projects. Several urban tram systems will benefit from a new 10-year investment pipeline that provides long-term planning certainty.”
The post continues: “The government has restructured its approach by bringing infrastructure strategy and delivery under one roof. This consolidation aims to improve coordination between planning and implementation phases.
“Project planning now requires more robust business cases with clearer alignment to national strategic objectives. The Office for Budget Responsibility plays a crucial role in assessing the fiscal implications of major infrastructure commitments.”
Driving freight movement
A post by Logistics UK on 1st May covered the government’s approach to the movement of freight on land, stating: “Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander told MPs on 23 April that an upcoming Freight Plan will set out a vision-led strategy for Britain’s goods movement, moving beyond the traditional predict-and-address approach.
The multimodal plan will be shaped by the DfT Freight Council, which met for the first time under the new government earlier in April…”
Commenting on the strategy, Michelle Gardner, Logistics UK’s Deputy Director Policy said: “It is a significant win for our sector that the government intends to develop a new multimodal freight plan, which is something we called for ahead of the general election and since.
"The last government’s Future of Freight plan, which Logistics UK fed into, was the UK’s government’s first ever multimodal freight plan. An updated plan offers us the opportunity to take our sector forward on matters related to infrastructure, planning, innovation, decarbonisation, skills and trade, and we look forward to shaping it through the DfT Freight Council.”
Making plans work
The logistics sector knows very well that the devil is in the detail in every assignment undertaken by land, sea and air. Each movement of goods needs to be planned knowing the potential challenges along the way.
Some, like the power outage at the Hayes substation, are hard to predict. But leading and experienced logistics companies are geared to deal with the unpredictable. Moreover, companies like Relay can identify specific infrastructure problems that can be barriers to the success of UK business and industry both at home and abroad.
So, while the government’s broad brush objectives previously described may be laudable, the expertise of the logistics sector in identifying and overcoming barriers to progress is also well worth considering across a range of issues affecting today’s volatile trading market environment.
In common with many affected businesses, Relay hopes that Logistics UK and other leading voices across industry will be increasingly consulted across a range of aspects leading to improvements in infrastructure reliability and efficiency.