Cars moved by rail freight at Willesden junction, England
Whenever I see freight being moved by rail, I always get a good feeling that it means several less lorries on the road.
As a cyclist my biggest gripe is having to deal with large lorries (btw: I find lorry drivers generally more courteous than motorists) But, it is just isn’t nice being overtaken by super lorries. Lorries have frequently been the cause of Cycling fatalaties, especially in London.
Rail freight is much more environmentally friendly than relying on road freight. Network Rail has calculated that a tonne of goods can travel 246 miles by rail as opposed to 88 miles by road on a gallon of fuel. (freight on rail) But, the main advantage of of rail freight is that it has a much better safety record. Travel by train is significantly lower fatality rates than car use. (death rates by mode of transport)
Facts on Safety
HGVs are over 3 times more likely to be involved in fatal accidents than cars due to a combination of size, lack of proper enforcement of drivers hours, vehicle overloading and differing foreign operating standards.
Source: Road Statistics 2008, Tables 3.2 and 3.6, Road Freight Statistics 2008 Section 5, both UK Department for Transport
TRL stated that when trucks are in a smash they do serious damage. HGVs in the UK account for only 6% of all vehicle-km driven but are involved in 17% of road accidents where there are fatalities
– Iain Knight Commercial Motor 17th July 2008
Also, even if lorries don’t cause accidents, it is makes sense to move heavy lorries off the road if we can. If there weren’t so many articulated lorries on the roads, it would encourage more people to cycle, it would also be a nicer experience for pedestrians and people who live by major roads. The RAC found dealing with lorries was the second biggest concern for motorists too.
Despite all the external (social) costs of having lorries on our roads, we don’t make lorries pay the full social cost of driving on road, meaning we have a less efficient transport system.
HGVs only pay between one to two thirds of the costs they impose on society, depending on the way it is calculated.
(see MTRU updated report Feb 2008 Heavier lorries and their impacts on economy and environment www. Campaign for Better Transport May 2008
Lorries are up to 160,000 times more damaging to road surfaces than the average car; some of the heaviest road repair costs are therefore almost exclusively attributable to the heaviest vehicles
– Freight on Rail research 2006
Ever since the 1960s, there has been some kind of expectation that railways should be run at a profit, but no one expects the roads to make a profit.
The lorry freight distribution network is now a powerful lobby and they can be quite vocal in campaigning for lower petrol tax. However, I would tax lorries more and use it to subsidise rail freight.
There was a brief subsidy for mode shift to rail freight by department of transport, though the Freight Facilities Grant scheme has now been cancelled (TFL) as a result of the governments comprehensive spending review.
I don’t think anyone would mind seeing less lorries on the road and more freight taken by rail. But, unfortunately, we tried our best to move as much freight as possible to roads. It’s not just an economic mistake but also places more people at danger.
Super Lorries
There have been proposals to allow even longer and bigger lorries. An increase in lorry length would make their blind spot even bigger. I hope the road freight lobby doesn’t win.
We will always need road freight delivery, but it makes sense to move as much as possible via rail and sea and keep heavy duty lorries off the road.
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