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Railtrack pledge for growth

24th April 1997, Page 12
24th April 1997
Page 12
Page 12, 24th April 1997 — Railtrack pledge for growth
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

• Railtrack has published a 10. point commitment to increasing railfreight volumes but there are no promises of new money or price concessions to promote its aims.

Railtrack says it will also try to generate up to 20 new freight projects each year and will continue its expansion of freight capacity on several rail routes shadowing major motorways.

Although the operator says it will continue to reduce its operating costs, it will only pass on cheaper prices for extra blocks of business from train customers.

"We expect a 2% growth in railfreight traffic per year," says a Railtrack spokeswoman. "That means a lot more trains, including more shorter journeys carrying lighter items and more intermodal traffic." • The road transport industry could slash lorry traffic at a stroke if it reorganised itself, says an Open University report.

The report, Vital Travel Statistics, says longer journeys and a doubling of goods carried by lorries have increased LGV traffic by 2.6 times in less than 50 years. Just-intime distribution and national, rather than local, distribution centres have been more important in generating traffic than economic activity, it says. If these systems were to change "it would be possible to have economic expansion and a decline in road goods traffic".

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Organisations: Open University

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