MPs representing the Conservative, Labour and the Liberal Democrat parties have all given their support to increasing the amount of freight transported by rail.
Speaking at the Rail Partners Freight Parliamentary Reception, all three party representatives spoke of rail freight’s importance in reducing congestion on the roads and in hitting net zero targets, each quoting the statistic of a single freight train removing up to 129 HGVs from the road network.
The Rail Partners Freight Parliamentary Reception took place on Tuesday 5 March 2024 in the Terrace Pavilion at the House of Commons. The event, which welcomed parliamentarians, Rail Partners members, their customers and wider stakeholders to celebrate the potential of rail freight to unlock green economic growth, coincided with the launch of Rail Partners’ report ‘Freight Britain: An engine for green growth’. This outlines how operators will work in partnership with government to deliver the economic and environmental benefits of freight, through investment in trains, its workforce and new technologies.
The report stresses that freight operators are ready to invest in improving and further decarbonising rail freight, so long as the government is able to deliver the conditions to enable the market to grow. It was prepared following a commitment from the Department for Transport to increase rail freight by no less than 75 per cent by 2050, and it offers a route to delivering on that target – and securing the benefits freight brings to the economy and the environment.
Opening the event, Andy Bagnall, Chief Executive at Rail Partners, said: “Rail freight is the logistical backbone of the country’s economy. Our members DB Cargo, Freightliner, GB Railfreight, Colas Rail and DRS help stock our supermarket shelves, they take fuel to power stations, they transport manufacturing and construction raw materials and move finished consumer good across the breadth of the country.
“Growing rail freight compared to other modes should be a national priority, regardless of who wins the election. Not only is rail freight a lower-carbon way of moving goods, contributing to Britain’s net zero ambitions, but it also contributes a huge number in terms of economic benefits every year, mostly outside of London and the South East. Moving goods by rail also helps motorists, as it decongests the road network.”
Andy was followed by Andrea Rossi, Chief Executive Officer at DB Cargo UK, who said: “The rail freight sector generates £2.45 billion of value to the UK PLC and takes millions of HGVs off the road, saving millions of tonnes of CO2 and taking away a lot of traffic from already congested roads.
“That leaves us in no doubt that freight belongs on rail, but we need to get more freight on rail. We’ve been set the challenge to deliver 75 per cent growth by 2050 at least and, whilst we are viewing this as a floor and not a ceiling, we want to smash through it. I ask all our customers to help us deliver it.
“We need a network fit for freight – increasing capacity, unlocking bottlenecks and allowing us to deliver our customers’ goods on time, in full.
“The upgrade at Ely has been most welcome news and will deliver conditions we need for growth in this area. We now need the same approach for creating capacity on the West Coast
and perhaps this is maybe the time to accelerate the ETCS (digital signalling) programme on the West Coast main line too. Finally, we need a reformed railway as quickly as possible.”
Following the speeches by Andy and Andrea, it was the turn of Rail and HS2 Minister Huw Merriman to address the audience, starting off by saying that, in the last three years, the Government had put in £42 billion of UK taxpayers’ money to subsidise the railway.
“Some people say ‘well I’m a taxpayer, but don’t actually use rail’, but the point is that, actually, everyone does, because even if you don’t use it yourself, you are using goods that have been transported by rail. That’s why rail freight is the champion argument for us as to why we need to continue to invest and subsidise the railways,” he said.
“Between April 2022 and March 2023, almost 16 million net tonne kilometres of freight was carried by rail. While this may sound substantial, it is just nine per cent of the UK’s total freight. So, we want to unlock rail’s untapped potential and see it moving even more of the goods that this country relies on and doing so in a way that works for our planet.
“The 75 per cent target is a minimum. I would encourage you all to be ambitious in growing green rail freight beyond this. I believe the Government is playing its part, and I look forward to playing more of a part with you.”
Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change and Transport, followed the Minister to the podium. She said: “Clean, green rail freight will help to get to net zero and boost our economy. I’m pleased to see so much ambition for the future of the sector here tonight. We now need to grasp the opportunities in front of us.”
Commenting on the aspirations of her party, she added: “The Liberal Democrats want to see a 10-year plan for rail electrification. The first five years would prioritise freight routes, to support moving more freight onto the railways. We will also ensure that all new railway lines are electrified as standard. Electric trains are up to 300 per cent more reliable than diesel trains and three times more efficient than diesel or hydrogen.
“The Liberal Democrats would fully support Great British Railways (GBR) which should act as a guiding mind for the railway, prioritising the needs for freight and passengers. GBR has cross-party support and I hope the Government will bring this legislation forward as soon as possible.”
Concluding the speakers was Labour’s Bill Esterson, Shadow Minister for Roads, who was standing in for Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh. He said: “Of course the roads brief means I’m very interested in rail, because you are the means to solving two of the biggest problems that we face on the roads – congestion and pollution. I think whoever is in Government has to pursue this path of increasing rail freight capacity.
“We have a mission to decarbonise and we have a mission to sustain the highest growth in the UK and to deliver opportunity to all parts of the country. To deliver on those missions, we undoubtedly have to invest more in rail freight, in improving the economic and environmental consequences of the transport of freight.”
Andy Bagnall thanked all of the evening’s speakers for showing such support for growing rail freight. “As the industry plans for the long term, it needs stability, regardless of politics,” he noted. “It is reassuring to hear just how much consensus there is on the importance of rail freight right across the political spectrum.”
You can read more about Rail Partners’ report here – https://railpartners.co.uk/latest/news/freight-operators-ready-to-partner-with-government-to-get-lorries-off-roads-and-support-green-economic-growth
