Freight on Rail

Freight on Rail – Philippa Edmunds

Freight on Rail members

Campaign for Better Transport

DB Cargo UK

Freightliner

Direct Rail Services

GB Railfreight

Rail Freight Group

RMT

ASLEF

TSSA

Freight on Rail

We need to talk about rail freight

Agenda

• What is Freight on Rail?

• Benefits of rail freight

• Exposing lack of equity across

different modes

• Rail freight strengths

• Rail’s role in urban logistics

• Need for rail connected

terminals/consolidation

• 7ft Longer semi- trailers

unsuitable on many urban roads

• Distance based lorry road user

charging to improve efficiency.

Freight on Rail

What Freight on Rail does

• FoR acts as facilitator at

national, sub-national

& local levels

• Working with:-

Local authorities, LEPs,

ITAs, Combined

Authorities, Unions,

Environmental NGOs,

TfL, TfN , ORR, Network

Rail DfT, & DCLG

www.freightonrail.org.uk

Freight on Rail

Why rail freight

• Rail reduces congestion and

improves reliability - worth

£1.6 billion to economy

• An average freight train can

remove 70 HGVs

• An aggregates train removes up

to 136 HGVs

• Need multi-modal options

• Rail is safer

• HGVs six times more likely

than cars to be involved in fatal

accidents on minor roads

• Rail produces 76% less CO2

than equivalent road journey

• Air quality benefits

Rail freight produces almost 90%

less PM10 & up to fifteen times

less NOx emissions than HGVs -

responsible 21% NOx emissions

but only 5% of vehicle kms

Freight on Rail

Lack of equity between HGVs/Rail

• Our research, using DfT figures

shows that:-

• HGVs pay less than a third of

costs they impose on society in

terms of crashes, congestion,

road damage and pollution.

• £6.5 billion annual subsidy

• External costs of HGVs ten

times higher than rail

• MDS Transmodal research

found £6 billion annum subsidy

• T&E research April 2016 –

HGVs pay 30% of their

external costs in EU

Freight on Rail

Rail Freight strengths

• Road & rail complement each

other

• Modes should play to their

strengths

• Rail – long distance trunk haul

& traditional bulk.

• Government rail freight strategy

gives industry confidence to

invest

• DfT strategy recognises rail

freight’s role in reducing

congestion, crashes, air

pollution & carbon emissions

• Crucial part of supply chain

• Rail network needs upgrading

because there is suppressed rail

freight demand

Freight on Rail

Key rail freight markets expanding

• Consumer traffic grew 7% Q1

– highest level since 1998:

grew 4% in Q2

30% in last 10 years

• Construction grew 8% in Q2

• Growth forecasts -Overall 2.9%

(tonne km pa), fourfold growth

in consumer traffic by 2043

• Suppressed demand for rail out

of Felixstowe & Southampton

as well as in construction

market.

Freight on Rail

Terminals/consolidation centres

• Use rail for long distance haul

& then tranship into low

emissions vehicles

• Rail connected consolidation

centres on edge of conurbations

• Key role of large & small

terminals.

• Strategic Rail Freight

Interchanges (SRFIs) coming

on stream such as I-Port

Doncaster

• Daventry SRFI removes 23

million lorry miles pa.

• Need for terminals so

construction materials can be

brought into heart of cities and

waste/spoil removed by rail.

• Rail transports 40% of

London’s aggregates. Eg.

Crossrail, Olympics

Freight on Rail

Planning urban terminals

• Building & protecting

terminals

• Design needs to minimise

local adverse impacts

• Need to safeguard urban

terminals from loss from

inappropriate adjacent

developments

Freight on Rail

Rail freight solutions

• GB Railfreight launching fast

daily parcel service between

London & Doncaster in 2018

• Using re-purposed Intercity 125

– equivalent to 6 HGVs

• Same day service

• Night trials of freight trains,

into Euston for Sainsburys &

TNT – equivalent to 70 HGVs

• Onward transhipment into low

emissions vehicles for final

deliveries

Freight on Rail

7ft longer semi-trailers (LSTs) unsuitable for

many urban roads

• LSTs have rear tail-swing

double of standard HGVs,

dangerous for pedestrians,

cyclists & other vehicles

• DfT evaluater cannot judge

LST safety on urban roads

• LSTs going between retail sites

128% and 177% higher damage

incidents than normal HGVs

• DfT must analyse what urban

roads being used before

increasing numbers of LSTs

• Load efficiency, infrastructure

damage & minor incidents data

relies on operators without

independent verification.

• Highly subjective safety criteria

Freight on Rail

Distance Based Lorry charging

• Objective to overcome unfair

foreign competition

• Revenue neutral

• Money raised from overnight

charges to go to skills/training

& roadside facilities

• Improve efficiency of road

haulage which is competitive

but not efficient.

• Reduce HGV external costs

• Reduce empty running

currently 29% in UK

• With distance lorry charging

system in Germany 2005/09

• Empty running reduced from 28

to 17% with load utilisation

improving

• 7% increase in rail freight

volumes