Ferry freight

So the Rosyth-Zeebrugge freight service is getting upgraded. It does seem a bit odd that the route goes so far south rather than the shortest and closest to great circle route to somewhere like Cuxhaven. This could possibly cut the sailing times further by using the deepwater berths at Burntisland or even Leith.

Getting on to mainland Europe at this point must surely deliver far shorter and thus faster freight journeys to the Baltic and Nordic states and a much shorter route through to Eastern Europe, which also avoids the congested focus on the Belgian and French coast between Zeebrugge and Dieppe.

With a shorter and potentially faster crossing, would this enable more intensive use of the route and ships?

Burntisland and Leith would also appear to offer a more readily available rail connection for multimodal traffic. Is there any reasoning in maintaining the status quo here?

Given the strong migration links between Poland and Scotland in recent years there is also a clear potential in offering some form of passenger capacity if the service ran to Cuxhaven.

Dave Holladay

Woodlands Terrace

Glasgow