A step in the right direction to meet freights ambitions

As further reform to rail continues apace, changes to rail freight and the charges attached to it have already been made. In a move designed to encourage further modal shift to rail freight, Network Rail and the Department for Transport (DfT) has waived track access charges for new freight flows for the next six months in a bid to bring new business onto the nation’s tracks.

In many ways, this is a ‘try-before-you-buy’ however it is a welcome move. Not only because it possibly opens rail freight up to new markets who have either considered moving their goods by rail but have not been able to do so because it has been cost prohibitive, but also because it highlights the issues that many within rail freight have known for a while – that barriers to growth are still there and modal shift cannot happen without either intervention and a clear purpose.

This move though isn’t a silver bullet, rather just a welcome tweak to a sector which is desperate for some sort of relief. This was acknowledged as such when it was announced, with Maggie Simpson, Director General of Rail Freight Group commenting that this was “welcome support” for new customers. Whilst this isn’t the fault of the Rail Freight Group, it is a little short of the ambition that the group has displayed for rail freight in the past. The argument by many is not necessarily to remove the charges completely as renewals and infrastructure must be paid for, but relief is welcome and removing them temporarily for new paths is a sign that the new government does have ambitions to grow rail freights market share.