London Banter - View Single Post - New Bermondsey station (Surrey Canal Road)

Recliner[_3_] · January 3rd 16, 02:54 AM posted to uk.transport.london

Basil Jet wrote:
On 2016\01\03 00:03, wrote:
In article , (Basil Jet)
wrote:

On 2016\01\02 10:14, Robin9 wrote:
;152800 Wrote:
In article , (Roland
Perry) wrote:
-
In message , at 17:00:26 on Fri, 1 Jan
2016, " remarked:
-
Are any canals being used or starting to find use as commercial
waterways for the shipment of goods?-

The coal traffic in East Yorkshire (eg Calder and Hebble etc) may
have ceased by now, but the Manchester Ship Canal still has
commercial traffic.

Inland, the speed and carrying capacity of a narrowboat has been
pretty much superseded by road transport (itself superseding rail),
unless the goods you refer to are holidaymakers.-

Lighters on the Thames are still used for waste in London, I was a bit
surprised to find a year or two ago. They were more common when I was a
child. There is other Thames river freight traffic. the barges run into
Putney railway Bridge from time to time.

I thought the spoil from Crossrail was taken away from London
by barge.

Water transport is far cheaper than road or rail if the product
is already alongside the water.

Even when you add in the wages of the staff, which will be ten times
as much for the boat, since the boat takes ten times as long to do
the same distance?

Probably fewer staff per tonne though. So cheaper for high tonnages.

Are you talking about ocean-going ships? Canal boats can't hold as much
as a train, and I doubt they could even hold as much as a lorry.

Surely more than a lorry?