Freight on Rail welcomes rail freight upgrades to ports

19th December 2006

Freight on Rail welcomes the announcement by the Department for Transport (DfT) that crucial rail freight projects to alleviate road congestion will be taken forward by the DfT and Network Rail as part of the DfT's Transport Innovation Funding (Productivity) (TIFs). The funding arrangements for these schemes will be critical.

Philippa Edmunds Freight on Rail Campaigner said, "These schemes mean that the rail freight industry can respond to the increasing demand for rail from our ports, which in turn will reduce road congestion and carbon dioxide emissions. Remember one intermodal, (container) train, which will operate on these routes, can remove up to 40 HGVs from our roads".

As the Secretary of State for the Environment, the RT Hon. David Milliband MP. said on 18th December on The World at One BBC Radio 4 programme,"Climate change changes the rules of the game" Freight on Rail points out that rail freight is ideally placed to meet this challenge as it produces between four and ten times less emissions than road haulage, depending on the weight of the product moved.

Freight on Rail, a partnership of the rail freight industry, the transport trade unions and Transport 2000, drew up a list of national priority rail freight projects in Spring 2006 which it circulated to Regional and National Government.

Ends

Notes to Editors:

These schemes are:-

Gospel Oak - Barking.
Gauge enhancement Southampton-West Coast Main Line near Birmingham.
Gauge and capacity enhancements Peterborough-Nuneaton
Humber ports/Immingham rail capacity enhancements
Olive Mount chord, including Chat Moss, Liverpool

The W10 gauge enhancement scheme from Teesport to the East Coast Main Line will be considered in the next round of TIF bids

Freight on Rail is a partnership between ASLEF, TSSA, RMT, AMICUS,

EWS, Freightliner, Network Rail, the Rail Freight Group and Transport 2000.

For further information contact please contact Philippa Edmunds at Freight on Rail on 020 8241 9982
email: philippa@freightonrail.org.uk
web site www.freightonrail.org.uk