Freight companies respond to coronavirus
THE Rail Freight Group – which acts as a representative body for companies involved in forwarding rail traffic including the rail freight operators, logistic companies and ports – has stressed that operational staff must be classified as key workers so that staff can continue to travel to and fromwork and have access to school places and childcare, writes ‘Industry Witness’.
It is also essential that freight routes are kept open if resources to operate the network become limited so that services can be maintained. Although there has been a decline in the number of containers arriving at Felixstowe and Southampton, intermodal traffic continues to be handled at ports with goods that are essential to the manufacturing supply chain.
There is increased demand for domestic distribution to maintain supermarket stock levels and with concerns about sickness levels among road haulage staff rail offers an alternative for trunk movements to release staff for localised deliveries. For bulk traffics there is a decline in demand reflected by end user needs in industries such as construction and as a result reduced traffic is insufficient to meet operational costs.
To provide financial support, the Government is being asked to suspend Network Rail track access charges and make temporary changes to the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme so that trains operating with a reduced payload, but carrying vital supplies, can be financially viable.
The continuation of NR’s renewal programme is important as the freight operating companies provide a wide range of infrastructure services, and a reduction in the programme will again have an adverse effect on traffic receipts.
Like the passenger operators, the costs of locos, rolling stock and staff is higher than current income, and it is reported that negotiations are taking place with the leasing companies to allow payment holidays. There is also the option of using the Government scheme to furlough staff, with an
80% contribution being made to employment costs if staff are retained for the future.