Freight
and traffic accident reduction etc benefits allocated a financial modelled cost. While Scotland retains a freight facilities grant for development of associated facilities, this was ended in England (it was temporarily ended in Scotland too but FTA managed to get it back). Perhaps the question going forward is where and how can grant money be spent to best deliver the benefits of modal shift? One area that could be looked at is the provision of suitable container wagons, particularly for the increasingly popular 45’ domestic intermodal containers, as otherwise with them carried on 60’ platforms train length capacity is underutilised which skews the economics away from rail and in favour of road.
The Agenda for More Rail Freight Retailers contributing to the On Track! report on retailer use of rail freight identified a familiar but solvable list of factors that will help continue the growth in domestic inter-modal freight services.
• increased service frequency to match product lead times
• more flexible timetables and service versatility
• the ability to expand train capacity when needed
• seven-day a week service to avoid spot road freight costs at weekends
• more rail freight terminals • temperature controlled containers, particularly for frozen food
• pooling of loads to create viable train loads
• faster processing of new train paths • continuous improvement to reduce costs and maintain competitiveness
• improved visibility of costs to assist partnership working
• continued government funding and grant support
• consistent measure of environmental benefits of rail
FTA wants to work with shippers to expand the above into a list of outputs necessary for increased retailer and shipper use of rail freight. This will form the agenda for FTA’s policy work on rail going forwards. This was agreed at FTA’s July Rail Freight Council that focused upon market developments in rail freight over the next 12 - 24 months of interest to shippers.
www.modeshiftcentre.org.uk www.modeshiftcentre.org.uk/export/sites/ modeshiftcentre/.content/public_downloads/ On_Track.pdf
HS2 With all of the very public debate surrounding the value for money and business case of HS2, FTA wants there to be certainty that the released capacity on the network gained by taking higher speed intercity trains off and putting them on HS2 will actually translate into usable freight train paths. And that’s not counting the pathing issues with more passenger trains on WCML north going to and from the junction with HS2 and over Shap and Beattock given that HS2 will not be going to Scotland (at least not initially).
Freight Transport Association Further information on FTA, its membership and its policy work can be found at FTA’s Rail Freight Council, which drives FTA’s rail freight policy agenda and comprises all parties to the rail freight supply chain: shippers (bulk, retail and manufacturing), logistics service providers, rail freight operating companies, wagon builders, ports, infrastructure operators and Network Rail.
•
Chris MacRae is secretary to the FTA Rail Freight Council. He can be contacted at
cmacrae@fta.co.uk www.fta.co.uk
December 2013 Page 69
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