Developing rail freight in CP5 (Network Rail) 5th January 2012

We want to see more freight removed from road onto rail to provide a faster, greener, safer, and more efficient and reliable way of transporting goods.
We’re already making major improvements to the rail freight network, but more needs to be done. The industry wants this network to develop further through funding these schemes in Control Period 5 (CP5), 2014-2019:
Felixstowe – Nuneaton phase 2

• Increases capacity to up to 56 trains per day (tpd) in each direction by 2030
• Works will include signalling remodelling and double tracking schemes
• Will help remove 750,000 lorry journeys per year by 2030
• Diversion of freight traffic from North London lines and Great Eastern Main Line to decongest railways serving the capital

Southampton – West Coast Main Line capacity

• Increases capacity to meet 2030 forecasts
• Works required include signalling enhancements and line speed improvements
• Use of the routes via Andover, Kew, Melksham and Oxford to Bletchley to provide additional capacity and diversionary capability will also be examined

West Coast Main Line, north of Preston capacity

• Increases capacity to 36tpd in each direction by 2019 and 48tpd by 2030
• Extended freight loops will allow additional 775m freight trains
• Improved interaction of freight services with higher speed passenger services to avoid potential delays

Great Western Main Line gauge enhancements

• Gauge enhancement from Acton to Bristol and Cardiff to accommodate larger containers
• Efficiencies gained from earlier enabling works by the Crossrail and GWML electrification projects
• Works include bridge reconstructions, track lowering and slewing, modifications to platforms and canopies

What happens next?

• September 2011 – Initial Industry Plan published, setting out plans for rail between 2014 and 2019
• Summer 2012 – Government decides whether or not to fund these freight schemes
• Autumn 2013 – Office for Rail Regulation makes its final decision on whether to give these freight schemes the go ahead

We’re continuing to make the case for these freight schemes and develop the smartest engineering solutions at the best possible price, in order to secure funding from government by the summer of 2012. We appreciate any support you’re able to offer.

Contact us

Email FreightCP5@networkrail.co.uk for more information on the proposed schemes.

• Cleaner

  • Per tonne of cargo, rail freight produces 76% less carbon dioxide than road freight
  • This saves 1.8m tonnes of carbon in Britain every year – equivalent to that saved by more than 230,000 solar panels
  • Rail freight produces less than a 1/10 of the nitrogen oxide and fine particulates produced by road haulage per tonne carried

  Cheaper

  • On average one freight train replaces 60 lorry journeys. Removing 10% of road freight would save British industry nearly £1bn per year
  • A gallon of fuel moves a tonne of goods 246 miles by rail but only 88 miles by road, on average
  • Road congestion costs the British economy up to £8bn every year

  Safer

  • Lorries contribute to a disproportionate number of accidents per mile travelled; Department of Transport figures suggest that between 1999 and 2008 there were 117,000 accidents involving HGVs

• © Network Rail