Railfreight grants drop could mean ‘thousands of additional lorries’

RAILFREIGHT campaigners are concerned that a reduction in government support for railfreight facilities could bring thousands of additional lorries on to the roads, if hauliers decide that using rail is too expensive.

It's being claimed that a loss of £4 million in railfreight grants could mean another 190,000 lorry journeys each year.

The Sunday Times has reported that transport companies are now considering enlarging their fleets of HGVs, but there are fears that extra road deliveries, equivalent to 520 lorries each day, will add to pollution and congestion.

The volume of railfreight has already been falling sharply recently, from 282,304 trains operated in 2014-2015 to 235,290 a year later, according to figures from the Office of Rail and Road.

This drop was attributed mainly to falling coal traffic, which more than halved, but it is said the latest cuts in railfreight funding could affect other sectors which had been doing comparatively well, such as food, clothes and electronics.

The executive director of the Rail Freight Group Maggie Simpson said: "We are concerned at the potential implications of the decision to reduce the budget for rail freight grants, and have been in discussion with Department for Transport to highlight the issues.

“The overall need for grant support has been reducing over time as railfreight has improved its efficiency, but some routes, in particular the newer retail services, still need this vital help.

“Government's recently published Rail Freight Strategy sets out their support for railfreight, and reinstating the grant budget would be a welcome demonstration of their commitment.”

A spokesman for the Department for Transport denied that there had been any cuts in the amount of money available, but said that fewer bids in the most recent round of applications for a share of the Mode Shift Revenue Support Grant had been successful.

He added: "The Government is committed to railfreight, and applications which show real benefits by transferring cargos from road to rail will continue to be welcomed.

“We are providing more than £15.5 million to encourage companies to move their goods by rail in 2017/18 which will mean up to 800,000 fewer lorry journeys.

“We recognise the environmental and economic benefits from moving goods by rail and we are committed to supporting the long-term growth of the industry.”

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