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Truck and Track June/July 2017 62
RAILFREIGHT
A massive timetable shakeup is being implemented after
Britain’s railfreight industry collaborated over a two-year,
industry-wide review into more efficient freight operations.
Together, Network Rail and freight operators identified that
50% of the reserved slots on the railway for freight trains were
not being used and could potentially be given up for thousands
of new passenger and freight services.
Per week, 4,702 allocated “paths” – the slots a freight train has on
the railway and in the timetable – have been relinquished, freeing
up much needed capacity on the rail network. They could become
available for all train operators to run additional services on a daily
basis or re-time existing services to reduce congestion and improve
reliability.
This additional capacity has been created at zero cost and has not
led to any reductions in the number of freight trains running on
the network. It represents a huge opportunity for both freight and
passenger operators to increase traffic on the network without
the need for expensive infrastructure enhancement schemes. The
spare capacity can be attributed to a number of factors:
■■The unprecedented decline in coal traffic over the last two years,
and a dip in iron and steel.
■■More efficient freight operations including running longer,
fuller, heavier trains.
■■Savvy timetabling and better freight industry productivity,
running fewer part-loaded freight trains, reducing wasted
capacity.
All the while construction and intermodal freight traffic is growing
on the rail network, and additional paths are needed in order to
support the economy across Britain. 1,000 of the removed paths
have been safeguarded for future strategic freight growth, which
is essential to allow for expected increases in key freight markets.
Paul McMahon, Network Rail Managing Director for Freight and
National Passenger Operators, declares: “It is important that the
whole rail industry works together to make best use of existing
capacity, to minimise the need for additional expensive capacity
enhancement schemes.
“This is a real win-win and has truly been a collaborative piece
of work with the freight operators. Capacity has been freed up for
the whole railway, but essential capacity is reserved for freight
operators. This is important, given the need to support the growth
of freight on the network to support the economy.”
Russell Mears, European CEO of Freightliner Group Ltd and Chair
of the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) Freight Group, comments: “The
freight operators and Network Rail have worked together in an
effective and pragmatic way for the wider industry good. Whilst
retaining some key paths as strategic capacity to support future
freight growth, the release of other residual paths is essential in
helping the Government get the best value-for-money from our
capacity-constrained railway.”
Railfreight operators & Network Rail
collaborate to increase railway capacity
Railfreight takes 7.6m truck journeys off the road each year
Paul McMahon – Network Rail Managing
Director for Freight & National Passenger
Operators
Russell Mears – European CEO of
Freightliner Group Ltd
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