Demand for Britain’s rail freight is rising.
This network for transporting essential goods, from clothing to construction materials, is crucial to the country’s productivity and continues to generate billions of pounds of economic benefits.
A report published by Rail Delivery Group, Rail Freight: Working for Britain, outlines the significant improvements made to the network in recent years. It says the rail freight network created more than £1.7bn of economic benefits to the country in 2016.
The figure comprises almost £1.2bn of productivity gains for businesses using rail freight instead of the roads, and more than £500m of benefits by cutting road congestion, road accidents, carbon emissions and improving the quality of air.
投资
自1997年以来，运费28亿英镑的投资效应，旨在提高能力和提高绩效。过去20年的创新包括更复杂的无盖货车设计和更强大的火车，以支持更大的负荷。
The government has directly invested a further £700m in the freight network, removing some of the previous restrictions on gauge and length on core routes.
Improvements
Combined efforts by Network Rail and freight operators to run longer trains have led to greater efficiency and improved business productivity:
Longer trains allow freight operators to run fewer trains, freeing up space for passenger trains. Freight operators have also relinquished more than half of their freight paths in the past three years. Increased competition between operators has led to savings, largely passed on to customers.
铁路运费减少了英国企业运输货物的成本 - 对英国PLC生产力的大量贡献。
走向数字
Furthermore, digital upgrades to 750 freight trains’ in-cab signalling technology announced in December are set to improve operational performance as part ofBritain’s Digital Railway Programme(pictured).
该计划旨在加速铁路上的数字技术，还确定了具有增强的交通管理作为潜在焦点领域的货运路径的提高。
More than a quarter of the containers that come through the deep-sea container ports in the South East are moved by rail to and from the major cities and conurbations in the UK.
The report says: “Rail freight already plays a vital role helping businesses to export goods efficiently to and from trading partners outside the EU, providing a direct bridge for UK companies to access overseas markets.”
Read about the positive impact of rail freight
有关铁路货运的更多信息，请访问www.networkRail.co.uk/freight.