Freighttraffic dropsto lowest levelsinceminers'strikein 80s
OFFICoEfRailand Road(ORR) figuresfor 2019/20showUKrail freightdroppedto its lowestlevel sincethe 1984/85minerss' trike.
Totalfreightliftedin the 12-monthperiodto March31, 2020,wasdown 10%from 2018/19to 68.1m tonnes,the lowestsincethe mid-1980swhen the vastmajorityof the country's collierieswereclosedby strike action.
Thetotalfreightvolume, combiningweightcarriedand distancetravelledf,or 2019/20 alsodroppedby 5%on the previousyearto 16.6billiontonne km (btkm),althoughtotal freight train kilometres(tfkm)wasonly down by 1% to 33.2mkm.
Intotal,209,281freighttrain movementswererecordedin 2019/20a, reductionof 5%on the previousyear,the lowest otal since2003/04a, nd lessthan half the peaktotal of 455,600recorded in 2005/06.
Coatlrafficfor powerstations droppedto almostnegligible levelsby early-2020w, ith this once-dominanst ector representinjgust 2%of the overall total in 2019/20(0.37btkm-) a 68%declinefromthe previous year.
Domesticintermodalremained the biggestsourceof trafficfor freightoperatorswith 41% of the total in 2019/20(6.77btkm), followedby constructionat 28%.
Thefourth quarterof the year sawa 6%reductionin total freighttrafficto 4.1btkm,the lowestrecordeda, nd a trendthat isexpectedto accelerateasthe effectsof the Covid-19pandemic on intermodatlrafficandthe constructionindustrybecome clear.
Coatl rafficcollapsedby 69%in 2019/20asenergydemand fromdomesticandindustrial users lowedbecauseof the coronaviruspandemic.
Internationaflreightdropped by 24%asa resultof Covid-19. However'o, ther'traffic,which includesbiomassfor power stationsr,oseby4%in the same period.
ORRsaysthe pandemichad onlya minoreffecton the 2019/20
figures,but it expectsto seea muchmoresignificanitmpacton the 2020/21Ql figuresdueto be publishedin October.