The United Kingdom’s growing rail freight market can deliver significant economic and environmental benefits by 2050 if supported by the right policies, UK trade body Rail Partners recently said in a report. If the government sets an ambitious target to treble rail freight by 2050, the sector will deliver nearly £5.2 billion in economic benefits as a minimum.

It will also support road decongestion and improved air quality, with the sector forecast to remove the need for over 20 million heavy goods vehicles (HGV) journeys annually as analysis shows rail freight services ease road congestion by removing up to 129 HGVs from the road network per train, while further enhancing rail freight’s carbon and air quality performance.

The trade body brings together the five biggest freight operators who move 99 per cent of the country’s rail freight.

The report, titled ‘Freight expectations: How rail freight can support Britain’s economy and environment’, includes independent analysis by Aether, the University of Hull’s Logistics Institute, and Railfreight Consulting.

Aether concluded a typical freight service produces 76 per cent less carbon dioxide per tonne than the equivalent movement by road. By operating longer and heavier freight services, freight operators are significantly improving productivity and growing the freight market, a press release from Rail Partners said.

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Rail freight can boost UK economy by £5.2 bn annually by 2050: Report