Labour plans shift to rail
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• Labour has pledged a "substantial shift" in freight transport from roads to rail if it wins the next election.
Labour leader Neil Kinnock this week promised big cuts in road spending, with a switch in resources to the railways, when he launched his party's environmental policy statement An Earthly Chance.
Research into intermodal transport, more rail freight centres and a crackdown on "inefficient" HGVs would be included. Meanwhile Labour's transport spokesman John Prescott has told union members that designated truck-only lanes on motorways are a possibility under a Labour government. Prescott made a similar suggestion at the Freight Transport Association conference last year.
Labour will consider restricting lorries to some motorways and trunk roads and encouraging hauliers to transfer loads to smaller vans for local deliveries, he told a conference in Manchester of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers. Unsuccessful bid IN Ilona Richards, founder of the Lady Truckers' Club, has been unsuccessful in her bid to win the Woman of the Year Award.
Economy course • I3RS is offering a oneday, RTITB-approved, fuel economy course for HGV drivers.