Rail freight companies call for new policies and reforms
Rail freight companies have called on the government to introduce a range of new policies and reforms to accelerate ‘modal shift’ and increase the volume of goods transported by rail, rather than road.
The recommendations are outlined in a report published by the Rail Delivery Group – ‘Rail Freight: Building a stronger, greener future for Britain’.
DB Cargo UK’s chief executive Andrea Rossi said: “The report sets out what legislative and regulatory changes we believe are necessary to improve infrastructure and connectivity and unlock fully the future potential of rail freight in Great Britain.
“It’s essential that the government provides the confidence and certainty needed to unlock sustained investment and drive further growth, enabling freight companies like ourselves to deliver more regular, reliable and environmentally-friendly services for our customers.
“For too long the points have been unfairly set in favour of passenger train operators and I believe the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail published recently provides the ideal platform on which we can start to address the current inequities. However, it will take a collaborative effort by all stakeholders involved – government, regulators, rail companies, industry bodies and our customers – to deliver this.
“Recent research has shown that rail freight delivers £2.45bn of economic benefits to the UK each year. This is made up of £1.65bn in user benefits (time savings, cost savings, reliability improvements) and £800m in social benefits (reduced congestion, emissions and safety impacts). The recent pandemic and Brexit transition period reinforced the important role we play every day in keeping Britain’s businesses and communities running.
“However, given the right legislative and regulatory policies, there is so much more we could do to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of not just our own operations, but those of our customers too.”
For more information visit www.dbcargo.com
19th July 2021
