Corridor 9 — the Ravensworth automotive shuttle
A short, dense, dedicated shuttle for a single sector. The highest on-time performance on the network, and the one lane where five minutes actually matters.
| # | Leg | Mode | Distance | Circuity | Running |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Receipt, plan and lift at Ravensworth | 3h 00m | |||
| 1 | Ravensworth → Bexley Cross | Road | 112 km | 1.30 | 1h 39m |
| — | Discharge and release at Bexley Cross | 2h 00m | |||
Of that total, 0h 00m is spent standing still under a crane rather than moving — 0% of the door-to-door clock. Cutting a lane's transit almost never means running faster; it means taking a lift out of it.
Ravensworth exists for automotive. Ninety-two per cent of what moves through it is parts inbound or finished vehicles outbound, and Corridor 9 is the shuttle that connects it to the metropolitan terminal at Bexley Cross.
It is 137 km of road, which is unusual for us — most of the network is rail. Road is the right answer here for a reason worth stating plainly rather than dressing up: at this distance, with three departures a day and a plant that works to a two-hour delivery window, the four hours a rail interchange would cost at each end is larger than the entire journey.
Why it is dedicated
Mixed traffic averages well and tails badly. A dedicated consist has no other customer’s box to wait for, which is how Corridor 9 holds 98.6% inside a window narrow enough for a line-side delivery.
The Bexley curfew
Heavy goods movements are held on the Bexley Cross estate between 23:00 and 05:00. The last shuttle is planned to arrive at 21:40 so that a delayed run still clears the gate; if it does not, the box sits until 05:00 and the customer is told before the lorry leaves Ravensworth rather than after.
Equipment on this service
40ft GP and curtain-sided swap bodies. Dedicated consist, no mixed traffic.