
Driving Change Together: CRP and UCL’s Workshop on Urban Freight Solutions
14th August 2025 / Posted by Katie SmithCRP recently co-hosted a workshop with University College London’s (UCL) Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, bringing together experts from academia, local authorities, and the freight sector. The workshop aimed to explore how express rail freight, and last-mile delivery solutions can work together to support cleaner, more efficient urban logistics.
The workshop provided a platform for attendees to deeper dive into the barriers and challenges to integrating express rail freight operations with last mile logistics, as well as exploring ideas to overcome these.
The sessions sparked productive discussions on how to accelerate the shift to achieving rail to road integration through better coordination, smarter infrastructure, supportive policy and much more!
A huge thank you to our fantastic speakers for their time, expertise, and engaging presentations all supporting to set the scene for the workshop sessions:
- Dr Kamal Achuthan, Director, Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience and Dr Manu Sasidharan, Assistant Professor in Infrastructure Asset Management, UCL Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering – sharing their latest transport and logistics research, offering vital academic perspectives on freight transport challenges and solutions.
- Dan Fredriksson, Freight Development Manager, Network Rail – showcasing the rail freight ambitions and the major potential of express rail freight to support these.
- Kevin Savage, CEO Delivery Mates – sharing real-world experiences delivering zero-emission last-mile logistics across London.
- Ross Phillips, Sustainable Transport Manager, CRP – showcasing the innovative Waterloo Freight Hub trial.
A huge thank you to our partners at UCL and everyone who joined the session. Your insights are helping move the conversation forward.
We’re grateful to UCL Public Policy and Research England QR-PSF funding for supporting funding this workshop, allowing us to bring together cross-sector audiences to learn, connect, and grow.
CRP looks forward to continuing this collaborative work and developing practical steps toward a greener, more efficient freight system benefiting all Londoners.
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