BR Railfreight suffering from road transport competition
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• British Rail's Railfreight and Parcels sectors are both suffering heavily through competition from road transport, according to British Rail's annual report.
Railfreight, with a gross income of £547.1 million for 1985/86, had an operating loss of £17 million before interest — partly through the permanent loss of some traffic to road after the coal strike, and partly from last year's one man operation dispute.
The parcels business was badly hit by News International's move to parcels carrier TNT in January. "This is worth 29 million a year, and its return to rail remains a prime objective," says BR.
The report adds that the loss of most of the Post Office's parcels traffic from rail to the PO's own road arrangements resulted because it "proved impossible to negotiate a contract satisfactory to both sides".
BR's Parcels earned a gross income of £127.1 million and had an operating surplus of £6.3 million before interest in 1985/86. But there was a "substantial growth" in its own Red Star parcels premium market, it said.