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The Transport Research Institute, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government invite you to:

 

TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY & CLIMATE CHANGE: Building a Greener Scotland

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

16th February 2009

 

 

Bookings are now being taken

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Dr David Quarmby Honorary Doctorate

On Thursday 13th November at Napier University's historic Craighouse campus, the Chairman of TRI's Board, Dr David Quarmby, was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering.

 

Laureation speech by Professor Kevin Cullinane, Director of TRI 

 

Vice-Chancellor, it is my privilege to present Dr. David Quarmby for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering.

David Quarmby is a seasoned, renowned and widely-respected transport professional who has accumulated a wealth of experience encompassing business, government, public bodies and academia. Having received a major scholarship, in 1962 he graduated from King’s College Cambridge with a first class degree in Engineering and Economics. He then moved to Leeds University to pursue a Diploma in Industrial Management and then to enroll on a PhD while working as an Assistant Lecturer and then Lecturer in Operational Research and Transport Economics. In 1967, he graduated with a doctorate on the basis of his research into factors affecting the choice of alternative modes of transport for travelling to work. This work was subsequently widely disseminated and cited. For many in the transport community, it represents a seminal contribution to the field.

By the time he had achieved his PhD, the originality and quality of David’s work had already been recognised in the highest circles – with his appointment, in the preceding year, as an Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Transport. In 1970, David joined London Transport where he held a number of appointments; first as Director of Operational Research, then as Chief Commercial and Planning Officer. By 1975, he was a Board Member, first with responsibility for fares, marketing and planning, and then from 1978 as Managing Director of London Buses.

In 1984, David left London Transport to become a main Board Director of Sainsbury's; a role he would retain for the ensuing 12 years. Although he joined as Distribution Director, for his last eight years at Sainsbury’s he was Joint Managing Director - responsible for all non-trading functions in the supermarket business, and latterly for strategy and business development for the wider Sainsbury Group. It should be remembered that during this period in the history of supermarket competition and rankings, there were many more competitors than there are now and the development of out-of-town hyper-stores was still very much in its formative stages. Those in the know attribute a large part of Sainsbury’s success at the time to the leadership of David in establishing what was acknowledged as international best practice in retail logistics.

Since 1996, just a small sample of David’s career highlights include the following: Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Transport, President of the Institute of Logistics, Chairman of the British Tourist Authority, Chairman of the English Tourist Board, Ministerial Advisor – leading to the formation of Transport for London, Chairman of the Docklands Light Railway, Deputy Chairman and sometime Chairman of the “Millennium Dome” company, Board Member of Transport for London and Chairman of the  Strategic Rail Authority.

He currently holds numerous appointments: Chairman of the Independent Transport Commission, a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum, a member of the Public Policy Committee of the RAC Foundation and is active in the Chartered Institute of Transport.  He is a director of NedRailways, the UK subsidiary of the Dutch Railways which runs two rail companies in England. As a Director of the Colin Buchanan Consultancy, he also engages directly in the hands-on management of projects as interesting and diverse as: Developing the Greater Manchester Bus Strategy; planning the tourism transport strategy for Hangzhou (China’s largest tourist destination) and even advising the old adversary Tesco on transport and traffic issues related to their store development strategy.

I must emphasize again that this is by no means a comprehensive list of his achievements – royal recognition of which was given in 2003 with the award of a CBE.

David has always had strong personal interests in transport issues – especially in road pricing, transport policy and, more recently, in climate change.  He leads the CILT’s response to the government’s initiative entitled ‘Towards a Sustainable Transport System’ and this summer presented a provocative critique of this initiative. As chair of the CILT’s Policy Studies Committee, he has sponsored and guided the production of a major report on Sustainable Business Transport, to be published in early 2009.  He was also a member of the Royal Society of Arts Advisory Board on their CarbonLimited programme and led the Society’s work exploring the feasibility of personal carbon trading as applied to transport. 

Coming closer to home, David has been associated with Napier University’s Transport Research Institute since 1997 when it was formed, first as a member of the Advisory Board, and since 2006 as Chair of the Transport Research Institute.  In this capacity I have come to know, like and respect David as a considered and sagacious adviser on strategic issues. It gives me great personal pleasure, therefore, to make the following commendation.

Vice-Chancellor, in recognition of his major contribution to the transport and logistics industries, I invite you to confer on Dr. David Quarmby the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering.
 

Congratulations to Neale Kinnear

First medium speed catamaran arrived in UK

On the 9th of December the mv Pentalina, operated by Pentland Ferries arrived in Orkney after her 10,000 mile journey from the FBMA shipyard in Cebu. The new ferry, designed by Stuart Ballantyne of Sea Transport Solutions in Brisbane, will shortly enter service on the Gill's Bay-St. Margaret's Hope route. The ship is the first medium-speed passenger/vehicle catamaran of its type in the UK, although Sea Transport has already designed similar vessels for some 43 countries. The mv Pentalina will carry 350 passengers and 88 cars (or over 30 cars plus 8 heavy goods vehicles/coaches) at a speed of 18 knots. The ship will reduce the journey time between mainland Scotland and Orkney to about 45 minutes. Up to four roundtrips daily are scheduled for the peak summer period, with three round trips/day at other times. Pentland Ferries (www.pentlandferries.co.uk) operate a non-subsidised service.

Napier University Transport Research Institute are working with industry and public bodies to see if there is further potential for the medium-speed catamaran vessel type to be employed on other routes in Scotland and elsewhere. The superior design of the medium-speed catamaran means it is capable of reducing emissions by over 50% compared to similar capacity conventional ferries. And as the vessel is medium-speed rather than high-speed, its proven seakeeping and reliability in heavy weather conditions is as good if not better than conventional ferry alternatives.

 

Alf Baird captured pictures from the ship's first days in Orkney:

 

 

Latin American Modal Split in International Transport – Year 2006

UNECLAC's Infrastructure and Transport Area and TRI have published the electronic document : Latin American Modal Split in International Transport – Year 2006. The document contains information on international transport flows to and from ten Latin American Countries for the year 2006 and is the continuation of the previously published Trade and Transport profiles, year 2000 (LC/L. 1711-P). The profile for each country modal split and volumes and value of trade as well as expenditure on freight and insurance in international transport are presented. 

The document was prepared by  Ricardo J. Sánchez and Gabriel Pérez S., experts of the Infrastructure and Transport Area of Natural Resources and Infrastructure Division of UNECLAC, Gordon Wilmsmeier , Senior Research Fellow of TRI and Marc Hesse, UNECLAC Consultant.