Tata Steel has been given the go-ahead for a new £1.25bn electric arc furnace to process scrap metal in Port Talbot. The development will create a more environmentally friendly process and secure 5,000 jobs at the site and thousands more in the supply chain.
Yet the success or failure of this huge government-backed project may rest not with precarious funding nor with it being the habitat of a rare species. As far as is known, there aren’t any great crested newts on the site.
The crucial factor, surprisingly, may well turn out to be the railway or, more specifically, a particular piece of railway infrastructure.
Standing between the rest of the country and this South Wales complex is the four-mile-long Severn railway tunnel.
But it’s not the 138-year-old tunnel itself that is the entire problem.
Other factors need to be added in to create this transport headache which is, in this case, more of a migraine.
The Severn Tunnel is a critical link for both freight and passengers moving between South Wales and Southern England, with around 200 trains a day.
Currently, just three scrap metal freight trains are allowed through daily. They have a speed restriction of 30 mph due to concerns that aerodynamic forces in the tunnel may cause cargo to be displaced from the open-top wagons. And no other trains can be in the tunnel at the same time.
Yet, the Port Talbot works, due to open in 2027, has indicated that only rail can deliver the very large amount of scrap required. Each train will carry between 1,200 and 1,400 tonnes of metal.
And there needs to be six or seven trains a day, which is a doubling of daily traffic.
The faster the freight trains can move, the more likely it is that the target of extra traffic through the tunnel will be reached. But current operational restrictions mean that this is not possible.
It is unclear, though, if the level of restrictions is justified.
So, RSSB is initiating a research project to gather technical evidence to assess whether the current restrictions can be safely modified or removed.
It will investigate the aerodynamic and vehicle dynamic forces acting on scrap steel loads during tunnel transit, particularly in scenarios where such forces may cause material to shift or fall from wagons.
In parallel, a second project will carry out a broader safety risk analysis and develop the operational guidance required to support any changes to existing restrictions.
If the restrictions can be modified or removed, the extra traffic for the Port Talbot site will deliver an increase of around an additional 600 freight services a year.
This rail research, jointly funded by RSSB and Network Rail, will play a critical role in supporting a key government initiative involving both public and private investment. It will also benefit the rail freight sector in its expansion of operations, providing a welcome boost in revenue.
While these research findings will be specifically for the Severn Tunnel, they could also open up flow opportunities, and subsequent revenue benefits, in other tunnels across the network.