No threat from rail
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• Road haulage's domination of the UK freight sector seems unchallenged, despite protestations from the Transport Secretary that rail freight will become more competitive following privatisation.
Speaking just before the publication of his Railways Bill, John MacGregor made little mention of a higher subsidy to rail: this is seen by many transport experts as the only way to hack away at the vast tonnage carried by road.
Instead MacGregor hinted that he might attempt to "level the playing field" between road and rail by increasing road charges with tolls on the present motorway network, while relying on privatisation to reduce rail costs. But he accepts that hauliers and other road users currently pay two and a half times more tax than is spent on the road network.
BR's rail freight companies, Trainload Freight for bulk commodities and Railfreight Distribution, will be split into "new freight operating companies" in advance of selling them off.
The publication of the Railways Bill comes as hauliers in Derbyshire are about to benefit from a huge switch from rail to road. Buxton Lime Industries is talking to British Rail about BR's imposition of a 280% rates increase for the 400,000 tonnes that BLI moves out of Buxton every year.