Lower Thames Crossing is a lifeline for British trade, according to Europa Worldwide Group

European road freight specialist and Dartford-headquartered operator Europa Worldwide Group is adding its weight to the campaign for the Lower Thames Crossing – a proposed new 23km tunnel connection set to add £40 billion to the UK economy.

A decision on whether plans for the Lower Thames Crossing will go ahead was delayed for the third time in October, as the UK Government considers the application further. While certainly a sizable infrastructural development, both geographically and financially, there are many trading benefits, says leading British logistics provider.

The proposed infrastructure is nationally significant and aims to create robust road connections between the North, Midlands and the Short Straights (where over half of all goods traded between UK and EU are transported).

Andrew Baxter, Chief Executive Officer of Europa Worldwide Group, said: “It has been reported that 40 per cent of journeys over the Dartford Crossing are freight vehicles transporting important goods across Britain.

“However, with the sheer volume of daily traffic in and around the Crossing (which is the main road link over the Thames), it’s not uncommon for us to experience delays.”

Europa Road, specialist European road freight division of Europa Worldwide Group, witnesses the challenges of using the Dartford Crossing daily. Congestion in Dartford not only impacts HGV drivers and their permitted driving hours, but it also risks delays to goods being shipped.

With more than 200 truck movements every 24 hours in and out of Europa’s 27k sq.ft European transit hub in Dartford, delays are a frequent frustration, one which is hindering trade for its customers.

Andrew continued: “This has a huge knock-on effect for British exporters and importers, who rely on the Dartford Crossing as a key trading route. Delays in transit pose a risk to reputations, not to mention the financial consequences of not being able to meet consumer demand.

“For these businesses, who have already had to contend with changes in how goods move across borders post-Brexit, the Lower Thames Crossing promises a significant lifeline, streamlining connections into across the UK, into Europe and improving transit times.”

National Highways estimates that the proposed Lower Thames Crossing will provide a vital new route for freight, connecting Southeast ports with some of the UK’s biggest manufacturers and distribution hubs.

For Europa, which makes approx. 30,000 journeys annually into the EU from the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkstone, the proposed tunnel crossing would offer an alternative road link connecting Europa’s customers with mainland Europe.

The changes would double road capacity and bring down transit times for inbound and outbound trade. This, coupled with the ongoing innovation in the UK logistics landscape, will drive efficiency in the supply chain.

Headquartered right next to the Dartford Crossing, Europa has explored the challenges it presents for the transport sector over many years. In 2017, Andrew Baxter led a campaign called ‘Stop the Convoys’, which proposed a solution of stopping or reducing the number of oversized and/or hazardous goods vehicles passing through the tunnel, an issue which is still on-going.

As has been procedure for decades, vehicles carrying hazardous goods or abnormal loads, and vehicles exceeding size restrictions traffic going through the Dartford Tunnel must be stopped so that a convoy can escort the vehicle through.

This is approximately 100 trucks a day that move in convoys through the Dartford Tunnel. Therefore, this convoy process, which benefits only a tiny proportion of the vehicles that use the Dartford Tunnel, causes enormous disruption to the 70,000 other vehicles that use it each day.

‘Stop the Convoys’ garnered support from the Kent Invictus Chamber of Commerce and then MP Gareth Johnson.

Europa has already proved it can reduce transit times for British exporters by investing heavily in its own infrastructure, developing innovative Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) technology and bettering its customer service. Its service, Europa Flow, was launched in 2021 and uses a combination of DDP, postponed VAT accounting and pre-logged declarations to ease the administrative burden for exporters.

Andrew concludes: “It is estimated that £200 million is lost every year in productivity due to delays at the Dartford Crossing. With an emphasis now more than ever on cutting the red tape around trade, the proposed changes to Dartford’s Road links could be instrumental in keeping Britain moving.”