The A-Team: Rail Freight on Track
Tony Berkeley argues that passenger trains in the UK could be used to carry freight
According to figures from Rail Freight Group (RFG) member Intermodality, over the past six years UK rail freight has saved around two million tonnes of pollutants, 31 million lorry trips and 6billion lorry km travelled.
UK Government figures suggest that in the next 10 years rail freight could deliver a huge £4billion (US$6.2m) of environmental benefits - against the same tonnage moved by road, rail produces less than one tenth of the carbon monoxide, one twentieth of the nitrogen oxide.
Per tonne-km, rail freight emits only 34% of the CO2 of road. Yet despite these impressive credentials, it still fails to retain political interest or stay in the public consciousness for very long.
At a recent RFG seminar a novel if not new idea came up for discussion – that of freight sharing carriages on passenger services.
It raised a few eyebrows and produced some wry smiles, as delegates’ thoughts turned to squeezing roll cages of goods into the aisles of packed commuter carriages, but it’s an idea that certainly has merit.
It’s a given that there is capacity on the network, though at times it may not feel like it, particularly at night and on very early morning and late night services.
Stillages could be rolled straight onto refitted wagons or even a baggage car.
Adding freight-only carriages to existing services may not be popular in peak hours but certainly it could be done at 4am.
It could also break ground in beginning to create a 24-hour rail network in the UK – which the supermarkets are increasingly demanding.
Asda, M&S, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-op and Sainsbury’s have all told the RFG this is the number one problem they have to increasing their use of rail freight.
There have already been urban rail logistics pilots testing the possibility of such schems and these must now be the way forwards.
It seems to make sense, using a web portal to market free space, retrofit passenger carriages to carry freight – no platform lengthening required. It could also be linked with electric delivery vehicles, meaning little or no CO2.
Tony Berkeley is the Chairman of the Rail Freight Group
UK Government figures suggest that in the next 10 years rail freight could deliver a huge £4billion (US$6.2m) of environmental benefits - against the same tonnage moved by road, rail produces less than one tenth of the carbon monoxide, one twentieth of the nitrogen oxide.
Per tonne-km, rail freight emits only 34% of the CO2 of road. Yet despite these impressive credentials, it still fails to retain political interest or stay in the public consciousness for very long.
At a recent RFG seminar a novel if not new idea came up for discussion – that of freight sharing carriages on passenger services.
It raised a few eyebrows and produced some wry smiles, as delegates’ thoughts turned to squeezing roll cages of goods into the aisles of packed commuter carriages, but it’s an idea that certainly has merit.
It’s a given that there is capacity on the network, though at times it may not feel like it, particularly at night and on very early morning and late night services.
Stillages could be rolled straight onto refitted wagons or even a baggage car.
Adding freight-only carriages to existing services may not be popular in peak hours but certainly it could be done at 4am.
It could also break ground in beginning to create a 24-hour rail network in the UK – which the supermarkets are increasingly demanding.
Asda, M&S, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-op and Sainsbury’s have all told the RFG this is the number one problem they have to increasing their use of rail freight.
There have already been urban rail logistics pilots testing the possibility of such schems and these must now be the way forwards.
It seems to make sense, using a web portal to market free space, retrofit passenger carriages to carry freight – no platform lengthening required. It could also be linked with electric delivery vehicles, meaning little or no CO2.
Tony Berkeley is the Chairman of the Rail Freight Group
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