Safer, cleaner and greener… the only way is rail freight
PHILIPPA EDMUNDS, Freight on Rail Manager at the Campaign for Better Transport, wants Network Rail to work with the freight industry to protect and develop freight’s interests, and thus generate crucial socio-economic benefits
WITHIN Network Rail’s devolved structures, treatment of the Freight and National Passenger Operator route ( RAIL 841) is critical for rail freight’s interests.
Inherently the new structures, with closer working between NR and the train operating companies confirmed in the Department for Transport Rail Strategy of November 29, present challenges for nationwide services such as rail freight because most of its services cross regional boundaries.
Development of the System Operator function at Network Rail is therefore crucial. It will help ensure that the rail network continues to be planned holistically and as a national network, and on an increasingly capacityconstrained network it will enable more informed decisions to be made on the pattern of services that deliver the highest socioeconomic value.
The Freight and National Passenger Operator (FNPO) route, supported by the System Operator, must have the authority to defend freight operators’ rights on the routes. It therefore needs to be properly funded with capital expenditure to drive improvements in systems and develop the capabilities of its people.
It will continue to play a crucial role in developing a national timetable, and ensuring that possession for renewals and upgrades are de-conflicted from each other to minimise the impact of traffic.
It is crucial that the physical routes at Network Rail are adequately incentivised to consider rail freight. The geographic routes are responsible for the delivery of freight services on the network, and it remains important that they work closely with the FNPO route to ensure alignment and consistent direction. Monitoring freight volumes on each of the route scorecards would be a helpful starting point in ensuring that freight continues to be recognised at route level.
The FNPO and the rail freight industry will continue to work closely together to ensure that the structure of the industry protects the interests of rail freight and other crossboundary operators, in order to promote a safer and cleaner alternative to HGVs, thus improving productivity.
The socio-economic benefits of rail freight need to be recognised by the Government, with the following supportive words from the DfT
Freight Carbon Review (February 2017) translated into funding as promised in the Statement of Funds Available in October, so that the industry has the confidence to keep investing.
“Shifting freight from road to rail can result in significant CHG emission savings as well as economic and safety co-benefits.”
The socio-economic benefits generated by rail freight deliver economic benefits totalling £1.6 billion per year. This includes productivity gains for British businesses of around £1.1bn, and congestion and environmental benefits of over £0.5bn per annum
Congestion cost the UK £30bn in 2016, according to Inrix, with the UK ranked the fourth most congested developed country in the world and the third most congested in Europe.
Rail freight is part of the solution. Shippers and construction firms are crying out for more rail freight services, which are currently constrained by the lack of space on the rail network. Moreover, targeted rail freight upgrades are shown to work - the gauge upgrades out of Southampton Port increased rail’s market share from 29% to 36% within a year, and had a benefit-cost ratio of 5:1.
Rail freight has had consistent year-on-year growth in key markets. Construction traffic grew by 7% and domestic intermodal by 6% last year. And performance has improved - 87% of trains arrived within 15 minutes of due time.
Campaign for Better Transport’s DfT-sponsored research, Impact on congestion of transfer of freight from road to rail on key strategic corridors, confirmed what we have long argued… that integrated rail and road planning is the best way to reduce road congestion, pollution and road crashes on certain strategic transport corridors.
It showed that upgrading the parallel rail
routes to the A14, A34, M6 and M62 to transfer the equivalent of 2,000 HGVs each day from each corridor could equate (depending on the different levels of road congestion) to the removal of up to 8,000 cars per day, reducing road congestion significantly. On both the A14 and A34 corridors, HGV traffic would be reduced by up to 17%.
Nationally, a quarter of the trips made by the largest HGVs (5+ axles) are over 300km (187 miles), showing that some of this long-haul traffic should be captive to rail if the rail network allows it.
Our new research on the same corridors shows that as well as significantly reducing road congestion, transferring just 2,000 lorry loads a day reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 10% and particulates by 7% per corridor. Furthermore, national carbon dioxide emissions could be reduced by 2.5%.
The latest DfT statistics reveal that HGVs are almost seven times more likely than cars to be involved in fatal crashes on minor roads. This is double that of ten years ago. While cars are getting safer, HGVs continue to be dangerous in a collision because of their size and weight, demonstrating the merits of transferring as much freight as possible to rail.
Crucially, these findings demonstrate that rail freight is part of the solution to reducing air pollution - HGVs account for around 21% of road transport NOx emissions while making up just 5% of vehicle miles.
In particular, they highlight rail’s long-term role in reducing non-exhaust particulates from brakes and tyres, which make up over half of particulates and for which there is no current solution. This is especially relevant for trucks that have large tyres.
The standard industry workhorse - the 16.5metre truck - is also 136,000 more demaging to road surfaces than a Ford Focus.
Road freight is a big CO emitter. HGVs 2 contribute 17% of surface access CO 2 emissions, despite comprising only 5% of road vehicles. Furthermore, while electric technology means car and van emissions can be reduced significantly, the DfT has stated that it expects the existing HGV diesel engine technology to be predominant well into the next decade.
Because HGVs are heavily subsidised and pay less than a third of the costs associated with their activities, it is difficult for rail to compete (especially in the consumer market) unless it is similarly compensated. We therefore believe that the Government needs to recognise road costs (such as road congestion, road collisions, road damage and pollution) in any discussion about rail freight costs.
Research commissioned by CBT, and which used DfT criteria, found a high level of distortion of the market across modes - equating to an annual subsidy of around £6.5bn.
These conclusions are in line with two separate pieces of research from MDS Transmodal and Transport & Environment Research. These findings demonstrate that there is a strong case for equivalently supporting rail through lower rail freight access charges and continued upgrades to the Strategic Rail Freight Network, in order to allow rail to compete more fairly with HGVs. Otherwise, HGVs’ external costs will continue to be a huge problem to society and the economy.
Fuel prices have been frozen since 2011, whereas rail freight access charges have increased by 22% over the same period. The following quotation from the DfT Rail Freight Strategy shows that this market distortion is not currently being taken into account.
“[We] recognise the positive benefits of rail freight for the UK - including its environmental and air quality benefits relative to road freight and its impact on reducing road congestion. These benefits are not currently recognised in the track access charging.”
The Treasury’s current review of the oldfashioned HGV levy offers an opportunity to introduce a distance-based charging mechanism for lorries that can measure the true impact of HGVs on other road users and on the infrastructure. Furthermore, it should incentivise efficiency and reduce emissions, as road freight is competitive but not efficient.
Government figures show that nationally, 30% of lorries are driving around completely empty, and this figure has been growing for some years. According to DfT figures, only 34% of HGVs were constrained by volume. Distance-based systems have reduced empty running from 28% to 17% in Germany and from 21% to 15% in Austria.
HGVs account for just 5% of overall traffic miles, but they have a disproportionately adverse impact on the road network and other road users in terms of exposure to collisions, congestion and pollution. Rail freight is well placed to provide long-distance consumer and traditional bulk transport, in a safer sustainable way… if it is treated fairly.