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Parliamentary briefing on transport implications of suspension of rail freight grants10th March 2003 Background Freight on Rail, is campaigning for the full reinstatement of funding by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) rail freight grants to help improve safety on the road network, control congestion and reduce pollution during 2003/04. The SRA has announced that new awards for rail freight facilities grants (FFGs) and track access grants (TAGs) in England are to be halted from now until the end of the next financial year (2003/04). Moreover, no definite commitment has been made to reinstate grants from April 2004 at previous levels. This is due to budget constraints within the SRA, which has been forced to reduce its expenditure by £300 million. We are concerned that this government U-turn and uncertainty as to when the grants will be fully reinstated, will force industry to opt for road transport. This withdrawal of grants runs contrary to Government policies to shift goods off Britain’s roads and onto rail, and to encourage private sector infrastructure funding. There is consistent public support for rail freight instead of road transportation. Government freight grants have made a significant contribution to reducing road congestion, reducing noxious emissions and reducing deaths and injuries on the road network. Failure to restore the funding will mean an extra 12 million lorry journeys over the year at a time when the Government has just announced a 2.5 per cent increase in traffic for 2002 and admitted that it can no longer met targets to reduce congestion. Freight facilities
grants, (FFG) introduced 25 years ago are the only capital support
given to rail freight by the Government and have contributed to
a 50 per cent increase in rail freight since 1994. It now represents
12 per cent of the UK surface freight market. Governmental support
for freight is about 4 per cent of its support for passenger services.
FFGs lever in significant outside investment: for every pound
of grant, on average over 70 pence is provided by the companies
involved. The willingness of businesses to put in its own money
can be seen in a range of successful applications in 2002. Benefits of some of the latest grants Potter Group investment at the Selby inland container depot where
a grant of £1.6m secured £1m of private sector finance.
As a result, 200,000 annual lorry journeys saved. DFDS has been awarded £382,480 which it will match with £300,520 of its own funding for facilities at Immingham. These facilities will keep 25,500 lorry journeys, equivalent to over 3 million lorry-kilometres, from the roads. The
Malcolm Group and ASDA have together been awarded £715,291
which they will match with a total of £457,317 of their
own funding for terminal facilities at Daventry, which will keep
over 20,000 lorry journey, equivalent to over 12 million lorry-kilometres,
from the roads. Road Safety and environmental impacts Forecasting based on the last year in which a full set of freight facilities and track access grants was made in 2001/02 show the following:-
Opposition to this suspension Local Government Association We
believe that this move is short sighted, both the public and private
sectors have called for the SRA to reverse its decision which
ignores the importance of the grants to local government, business
and the wider freight industry. We ask you to lobby the Department
for Transport to reinstate the grants immediately, restore confidence
in the industry, control road congestion, protect the environment
and to avoid many unnecessary deaths on the roads. For
further information contact:-
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