FTA welcomes grants for rail freight

The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the announcement (5 June) from the Department for Transport of £44 million of new grants for rail freight, helping to increase the amount of freight moved by rail and thus to contain growth in lorry journeys.

FTA Deputy Chief Executive James Hookham said, 'As the economy grows in the coming years, we will need to move as much freight by rail as we can.

'Inevitably we are going to see more container traffic coming into the UK, notably from India, China and the Far East, and it is important that as much of this as possible goes by rail.

'Roads congestion is the blight of British industry, wasting around £20 billion in the UK economy each year. Companies which are able to consign goods by rail are likely to enjoy benefits in both efficiency and profitability, and grants of the type announced today help accelerate that process.'