Road haulage
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/ Transport secretary Malcolm Rifkind's decision to encourage operators to switch freight from road to rail has been met with mixed reactions.
The initiative marks a change in policy for the Government, which has been criticised over the past 12 years for its antipathy towards rail.
In London on Tuesday (28 May) Rifkind announced a number of incentives, including a three-fold increase in Section 8 subsidies for building private rail sidings—from 34p to it per mile. Freight operators will be allowed to set up their own rail service.
The financial boost is hoped to increase the number of operators setting up sidings—so far only around 200 schemes have attracted grants, worth £701n: equivalent to three million lorry journeys a year.
Grants are paid for environmental benefits gained by moving freight on to rail. They are assessed according to how many "lorry-sensitive miles" are affected, and the definition of "lorry sensitive" is being extended. From now on virtually all singlecarriageway roads will be eligible rather than the current narrower definition of unclassified, urban and scenic roads. Most urban dual carriageways will also be treated as environmentally sensitive.
Environmentally sensitive urban roads will be given a 50% higher weighting than other sensitive roads, and schemes of "exceptional benefit" will no longer be restricted to a maximum grant of 60%.
"These improvements reflect the Government's concern for the environment and its desire to alleviate the effect of lorries