With Railtrack in administration, timber groups – especially those in Scotland – are supporting Freight Transport Association (FTA) calls on government to stand by its commitment to rail freight.
The FTA says that now, more than ever, the government must hold to its 10 Year Plan commitments to increase rail freight by 80% and increase investment by more than £3bn by 2010.
And it says there must be no delay in starting new projects which benefit freight and that if extra funds are needed this must be on top of the £3bn already pledged. It also says that industry innovation must not be hindered by a new administrative system.
The call is fully endorsed by the Argyll Timber Transport Group which has been working hard to get timber off the roads and on to rail.
Project officer Catherine Cantrill said: ‘We would support continuing intitiatives for rail freight. In Arygll the amount of timber transported by rail instead of road is steadily increasing and this will continue.
‘There are other initiatives working throughout Scotland – for instance in Ayrshire and Sutherland.’
Meanwhile, a Timbmet spokesperson urged the government to address ‘uncompetitive’ rail freight pricing if it wanted to see a bigger uptake. The company uses rail to transport containers of hardwood from southern UK ports to its Glasgow operations.
‘At Timbmet we are keeping a close eye on logistics trends, as we think rail is, in principle, more environmentally acceptable and we are concerned that future changes in working hours for lorry drivers will seriously affect road transport’, the spokesperson said.
