Whilst pipelines were not considered in State of Freight in the East Midlands, they do have a valuable sustainable role in the Region, albeit for movement of specific liquid and gas products, and accordingly merit attention in this Strategy. Clearly there will be issues concerned with construction, maintenance (and any eventual decommissioning). However, once in operation, they can contribute cost-effectively and positively to modal shift away from less sustainable modes for particular point-to point movements, where a long-term market justifies the high capital costs. Conveyor belts also have advantages in specific situations. Current research on the potential for cargo pipelines may identify a role for these in the Region in the future.

The seven major oil pipeline operators in the UK come under the umbrella “Linewatch”
organisation.Within the East Midlands, members TotalFinaElf (operating a Finaline from South
Humberside to London), Mainline (with a line from Milford Haven to Birmingham, Manchester and Nottingham), Conoco (with a line from the Theddlethorpe terminal to South Humberside) and the Oil and Pipeline Agency (managing a network on behalf of the Government Petroleum and Storage System - GPSS) are represented.The latter offers spare capacity for commercial use. The majority of these lines are multi-product lines. North Sea gas is carried by an extensive, separate network throughout the country.

KEY POLICY 7:

Regional and local partners to work together to support opportunities for
greater use of pipelines in contributing to freight modal shift.

TARGET:

Increase volume and modal share of total regional freight transported by pipeline.