Cash-strapped leaders must put rail’s needs ahead of road

It urged the Government to target investment carefully and shift funds away from road building projects and towards rail freight schemes, which had the potential to remove significant numbers of lorries from major routes. The argument for encouraging rail freight over road was brought into sharp focus recently, with debate over funding the proposed A14 upgrade. The planning inquiry for the expansion is due to start on 20 July and is expected to cost a huge £1.3bn. RFG argued it would not remove a single lorry from the road and would actually increase carbon emissions because it would not only encourage increased traffic, but was a longer route for drivers. However, the full upgrade to the parallel rail route between Felixstowe and Nuneaton, costed at around £250m, could remove up to 40m lorry miles from the roads each year with associated benefits in carbon reduction, pollution and road safety. Maggie Simpson, policy manager for the RFG, said: "In today's cash constrained environment we have to question whether expensive schemes such as this massive road scheme are really the right way to go. "Let's commit now to increasing the capacity on the rail route which will make a big impact on traffic levels and on the environment, not just for today but for the future." Philippa Edmunds, manager of rail campaign group Freight on Rail added: "The rail upgrade offers better value for money to the economy, environment and society than this parallel road scheme and is in line with the Government's commitment to foster economic growth and tackle climate change."