Rail Freight in Construction – A Commitment to the Future
Rail freight is at the very heart of construction logistics. Each and every day, around 60 trains move stone, sand, cement and other products into our towns and cities to be turned into the new houses, offices and infrastructure that this country demands.
Over the last decade, the construction sector has been increasing its use of rail, reaching a record high in the last financial year. Industry forecasts suggest that further growth of around 2.5%pa is likely as investment in infrastructure continues.
Delivering this growth will require coordinated action investment from the rail and construction sectors.
Rail Freight Group and the Mineral Products Association are pleased to launch a new joint initiative ‘A Commitment to the Future’ which sets out five steps that we will take to develop our rail freight logistics.
These are:
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Improve the sustainability of construction logistics by encouraging modal shift and enhancing the safety and environmental performance of our rail operations.
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Aim to achieve a 20% average increase in the payload per train within the next five years.
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Support development of the rail network and terminals so that major routes can routinely accommodate trains of 450m length, with 2000t of payload.
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Be responsible users of the network, working to improve performance, increase efficiency and optimise and safeguard network capacity.
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Make rail freight the preferred solution for supplying major infrastructure schemes.
Maggie Simpson, Executive Director, RFG, said: “This important initiative brings together rail operators and their customers to set out a vision of how rail freight logistics can help to support the construction sector. Becoming more efficient, and by being more responsible users of the rail network we will help to leverage vital growth, keeping construction lorries off the road and supporting our economy.”
Jerry McLaughlin, Director, Economics and Public Affairs, MPA said, “We need to unlock the full potential of rail for transporting key materials such as aggregates and cement from production sites to construction markets and to help ensure future national demands can be met. This commitment is a very positive and necessary step forward.”
