RFG Sets Out Rail Freight Priorities

Published on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 10:50

Posted by Vicki Mitchem

Rail Freight Group (RFG) Chairman Tony Berkeley has written to Justine Greening MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, highlighting the key areas where Government support is vital for progressing rail freight growth

In the letter, Berkeley notes that ‘the rail freight sector is growing successfully - in 2011/12 the volume of rail freight moved grew by 10%, and within that, the movement of intermodal containers grew by 11%, sustaining its year on year increase.

There is continued investment in equipment and facilities to support this growth and improve the efficiencies of the sector. The rail freight operators and our members are also heavily engaged in progressing industry reform in a positive way, and in ensuring that rail freight interests are part of the emerging solutions on structure and cost reduction’

Four priority areas are highlighted for Government support,

-Continued investment in the Strategic Freight Network in the next control period, including vital schemes such as Felixstowe to Nuneaton upgrade;

-Simple, stable, nationally based and affordable freight access charges;

-Formally establishing the planning framework for strategic rail freight interchanges in a National Policy Statement;

-Promoting rail freight in Government’s work and public statements to help to build the confidence that the sector needs to thrive.

Source: RFG 2012