Freight body calls for more UK rail terminals
The UK must support the creation of more strategically sited rail freight terminals if it is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transport, according to the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
The FTA has identified the regions that would benefit most from greater rail freight terminals, and it hopes developers and planners alike will take heed. The locations are outlined in the FTA’s latest policy document Rail Freight Terminals.
FTA’s rail freight policy manager Chris MacRae said: “Without rail freight terminals we do not have a hope of meaningfully reducing the number of lorries on our congested roads. Greater rail freight capacity is, quite simply, a pre-requisite if we are to meet the need for moving goods sustainably in the UK. Ignoring this need is akin to asking for more passenger train services without providing platforms for people to stand on.”
The FTA has called for more common sense in deciding where to site rail freight interchanges and terminals, despite local objections.
MacRae added: “The government is spending millions upgrading rail lines, and retailers and manufacturers are working to adjust their logistics arrangements to incorporate rail. But none of this will help if the freight cannot get on and off the network at the right place.”
The FTA hopes that the newly formed Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will help the right decisions to be made when it comes to new rail freight terminals and avoid the time-consuming delays often experienced in attempting to get planning approval.
“The IPC recognises the importance of key projects, such as rail freight terminals, and the new planning system will speed up this often protracted process. As such, decisions that will benefit the supply chain and its performance will be granted a degree of certainty that has been sorely lacking,” said MacRae.
According to the FTA, rail produces less than 1% of total carbon dioxide emissions, compared with road’s 21%. A typical freight train can remove 50 lorries from Britain’s roads, it added. Over the last six years, rail freight is estimated to have removed 2Mt of pollutants from our air, claimed the FTA, and every tonne of freight carried by rail produces at least 80% less carbon dioxide than if moved by road.
