Date: 17/03/2015

A NEW report says that railfreight is now contributing some £1.6 billion to the British economy every year. The figure is an estimate of the benefits, which include reduced road congestion and favourable environmental factors. Two years ago these benefits were valued at £1.5 billion, but the sector has continued to grow since then. The report comes from the Rail Delivery Group, which says the five major railfreight operators between them move goods worth more than £30 billion each year, including groceries, luxury cars for export and half of the fuel used to generate electricity. Container traffic has risen by 30 per cent since 2006, partly because of the growing market in consumer goods. One in four of the containers entering the country are now moved from port to inland destination by train. [From Richard Buckby]

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Railfreight 'contributes £1.6bn to British economy'

Rail News

A NEW report says that railfreight is now contributing some £1.6 billion to the British economy every year. The figure is an estimate of the be...

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