Rail damage warning
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• The Government has been told in the strongest terms so far that it must move quickly to stem the haemorrhage of freight from rail unless it is prepared to see long-term damage to Britain's railways.
In a pro-rail appeal the Transport Committee wrote last week to Transport Secretary John MacGregor demanding action to end the "crisis" state of rail freight. It said: "It may be no exaggeration to say that there has been a collapse of confidence ... The committee's strong view is that action cannot wait for our own report or the publication of the main (British Rail privatisation) Bill."
Committee chairman Robert Adley later added: The Government's stated policy of transferring traffic from road to rail is currently unattainable without an urgent review of policy."
The committee says there is a crisis because of the 'devastating impact" of the recession on the volume of freight and the threat of lost traffic from pit closures. British Rail chairman Sir Bob Reid has told the committee that coal currently contributes a turnover of £505m and an operating profit of £67.5m to BR. He said if 31 pits close 1,150 BR jobs will go.
BR also conceded last week that if it continues to lose large volumes of freight, staff and management employed specifically to handle freight could disappear.
LI BR's bulk materials division Trainload Freight plans to close a railfreight terminal in Chesterfield, forcing 20,000 tonnes of steel movements a year on to the road. Chesterfield City Council is considering the move's environmental implications.