How can you help the campaign?
There is much that can be done locally to help the Freight on Rail campaign.
For instance, we should ask local authorities to commission surveys to find out what goods are moved within their boundaries.
Councils can then be asked to take appropriate action. Tees Valley Council, for example, is committed to a 100 per cent increase in rail freight moving inside its boundaries by 2010; Argyll and Bute Council and the Highland Council are each committed to shift 10,000 lorry loads of freight on to rail each year.
In its guidance on Local Transport Plans, the government has said that local authorities "should seek to develop integrated freight distribution plans".
The guidance further suggests Freight Quality Partnerships, bringing together stakeholders to develop sustainable distribution strategies. The guidance, incidentally, is very detailed and very much in favour of rail.
There is always a danger, in this age of high property prices, that local authorities will try to sell any spare bit of land for housing. If you are aware of any such land in your area which could be used for rail freight, contact you local councillors and planning department. Quote the above guidance and specifically Policy Planning Guidance (PPG) 12 and 13 which make it clear that councils and other bodies should protect land which can be used for sustainable development.
Facts and figures:
- An average freight train can remove 50 HGV lorry journeys from our roads.
- An aggregates freight train can remove 120 HGV journeys from our roads.
- A 40-tonne, five-axle lorry causes more than 10,000 times more damage to road surfaces than an average car.
- Per tonne carried, rail produces around 10 per cent of the carbon dioxide produced by road transportation.
- Lorries are involved in 22 per cent of fatal crashes but only account for 7 per cent of road traffic.
- According to recent research by Oxford Economic Research Associates, HGVs only pay between 59 per cent and 69 per cent of the full costs which they impose on society (including the social and environmental costs).
- A main aim of the Freight on Rail campaign has been to shatter a number of myths which have grown up around the movement of goods by rail. For instance, rail does not just carry bulk cargoes but carries a vast range of non-bulk items such as car components and fragile, prestige goods. There is also a belief that rail is only economic over long distances; in reality, traffic such as waste and aggregates can be economic over distances as short as 19 miles.
Parliamentary lobbying
We had a lobby of parliament on July 13th and one on Wednesday October 19th. Two motions (early day motions) have been placed before parliament. Make sure your Member of Parliament has signed both motions.
The latest early day motion (number 590) was put down by the late Robin Cook, who was a great supporter of the campaign, and the wording is as follows:
That this House notes that emissions from road freight transport rose by 59 per cent between 1990 and 2002; further notes that traffic congestion costs business around £20 billion per year; further notes that research by Oxford Economic Research Associates indicates that heavy goods vehicles pay between 59 per cent and 69 per cent of the full social and environmental costs they impose on society; and therefore calls on the government to do everything possible to encourage the use of freight on rail.
The first early day motion, in the name of Bob Wareing MP, is as follows:
That this House welcomes the Who Cares? campaign by the rail union, ASLEF, which seeks to increase the amount of freight being moved by rail; notes the myriad environmental and transport problems created by over-reliance on road transport; further notes that an average freight train can remove 50 heavy goods vehicle journeys and that, per tonne carried, rail produces approximately 10 per cent of the carbon dioxide produced by road transportation; and calls on the government to do everything it can to promote the greater movement of freight by rail, which would cut pollution and free up roads.
Each motion has been supported by more than 50 MPs.
For more information, go to http://www.freightonrail.org.uk/
