Road-to-rail grants increase four-fold
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• Grants for moving freight off motorways on to rail have quadrupled from 5p to 20p a mile.
The Freight Transport Association has welcomed the rise but has called for the red tape involved in applying for the grants to be cut to encourage more companies to apply. A National Audit Office report released last summer revealed that between April 1985 and March 1996 the Department of Transport paid out just 1:32m in grants, out of a total provision of £70m.
The Dur promises to streamline the application process.
U Grants were introduced by the Railways Act (1974), initially to encourage the transfer of freight from road to rail. Since then the system has been extended to include inland waterways.
Since 1974 there have been 155 grants totalling f72.3m.