Call for greater investment in rail freight

THE Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) have joined the Rail Freight Group, Railtrack, English Welsh and Scottish Railway, Freightliner and GB Railways in calling for up to £5 billion of investment in rail infrastructure over the next 10 years to improve the attraction of rail freight to business.

The campaign comes at a time when important decisions are being made that will affect the transport choice for industry. These include the publication of both the Government's 10-year transport plan and the shadow Strategic Rail Authority's freight strategy, as well as decisions on the future level of track access charges for rail freight.

Sarah Crockford, the FTA's European logistics manager, said: 'For too long rail freight has had the reputation for being seen as 'politically correct' rather than 'logistically sound'. We want to establish a more commercially credible case for rail freight.'

According to the FTA, rail freight needs to focus more on the needs of business customers to maximize its potential. The Association is calling for:

• a more customer-focused company culture; the FTA wants the rail freight industry to build on steps recently taken to improve reliability and deliver a level of service that meets business customers' needs
• improvements to rail network capacity (by creating additional paths for freight) and capability (by allowing longer, heavier and larger trains)
• easier access to the rail network.

Michael Roberts, head of the CBI's Industrial Policy Group, added: 'Recently, rail freight has grown by 30%. To consolidate and build on that achievement the industry must develop genuine value-for-money improvements which will be properly funded in the shadow Strategic Rail Authority's and the Government's plans.'