Thurrock Borough Council have recently released the Provisional Local Transport Plan 2006-2011. It noted that Thurrock has a population of over 145,000 people, a 10% increase since 1991. The document looks at all aspects of transport in the Thurrock borough, however one of the main sections on Rail transport is reproduced below:

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Rail capacity

Rail passenger services in Thurrock have experienced significant change in the past 8 years under the ownership of c2c. The service is one of the most reliable operators in the London and South East. This has resulted in increased passenger numbers. [...]. Work on improving station access and environments are ongoing. A proposal to lengthen station platforms to accommodate 12 carriage trains in the borough has been approved by the Government subject to further appraisal to be undertaken by the Strategic Rail Authority and its successor organisation.

The problem of competing demands between passenger and freight for rail capacity remains. Extending station platforms will cater for greater volumes of passengers but will not create new train paths of an increase in service frequency. Solution to this problem are needed to allow for increase use of rail for both passengers and freight, but are compounded by several rail bottlenecks in the East London area. The Regional Planning Assessment undertaken by the SRA for the Eastern Region has acknowledged the issue, however solutions are likely to be expensive and unaffordable in the current climate of constrained railway expenditure.

This situation will be compounded if the London Gateway (the proposed new port at Shell Haven) application is fully approved, which envisaged approx 36 trains per day to and from the Port / Logistics Park. Insufficient rail capacity for freight traffic will inevitably lead to increased volumes of heavy vehicles on the road network, impacting on all of the objective areas of this LTP. Thurrock Council will continue to argue for greater investment in new rail infrastructure that results in an increase in the amount and share of rail borne freight in the Borough.

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Updated 20/08/2005