THE Campaign for Better Transport has accused the Government of playing down the benefits of moving freight from roads to railways and canals because of the system of measurement it used.
The CBT said the research only considered national averages on all strategic roads.
But new research from the CBT also looked at those routes which typically tend to be more congested by more long-distance HGV traffic, particularly to ports.
The CBT claimed that HGV traffic could fall by 21 per cent and congestion be reduced by 15-25 per cent if rail and water freight increased by 50 per cent on these routes.
The CBT's Freight on Rail manager Philippa Edmunds said: “While the Government is committed to investing significant funds in the railways and in railfreight in particular, it has underestimated the full extent to which this investment could reduce road congestion.
The Government should take account in its forecasting and modelling, and in its policy and spending, the potential to shift HGV traffic to rail and water and the congestion, safety and pollution benefits of doing so.”