Memorandum submitted by Freight on Rail
RESPONSE TO THE ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO NATIONAL POLICY STATEMENT FOR ENERGY (EN-1)
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute
to the Energy and Climate Change Committee inquiry.
FREIGHT ON
RAIL DEFINITION
Freight on Rail is a partnership between
transport trades unions, freight operating companies, the Rail
Freight Group and Campaign for Better Transport. It works to promote
the economic, social and environmental benefits of rail freight
both nationally and locally. It advocates policy changes that
support the shift to rail and provides information and help on
freight related issues to central, regional and local government.
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The Planning System sets the spatial planning
framework upon which transport and planning decisions are made.
It is therefore crucial that the economic, social and environmental
benefits of rail freight, for transportation purposes, are full
reflected in all the Energy NPS with a default for rail or water,
where possible.
Freight on Rail has long campaigned for national
spatial planning to set the policy framework and to give guidance
to regional and local spatial planning therefore we are supportive
of National Policy Statements (NPSs) in principle. DfT has confirmed
that local and regional authorities will have to take material
consideration of the DfT led NPSs in their planning and transport
decisions and therefore this point should be made in all the NPSs.
The NPS implies that many of the sites will
be the same as existing ones and presumes that there will only
be the existing transport links. Just because there are no rail
connections currently at a site, it does not mean that rail should
not be the preferred option in the future.
The case for stronger support for rail freight
in all the Energy NPSs
Rail already has a significant market share
in the movement of coal to power stations from ports and from
domestic mining. It also has a significant market share in moving
spent nuclear waste. Rail should be used for delivering biomass
which this NPS recognises as increasingly important. In the construction
phases rail should be used for transporting building materials
to the sites for energy projects and for the removal of industrial
waste. Rail or water should be used to remove gypsum from power
stations, where appropriate.
Rail freight has a crucial role in helping the
Government to achieve the low carbon economy and green jobs needed.
— Carbon reduction—As DfT Department's
Logistics Perspective of December 2008[78]
shows rail freight produces 70% less carbon dioxide emissions
than the equivalent road journey.
— Road congestion relief—An average
freight train can remove 50 long distance HGVs from our roads
with the largest freight trains each now removing up to 160 long
distance HGVs.
— This means that moving more freight to
rail can also have an economical impact; considering that the
DfT estimate the cost of congestion being £1 per lorry
miles on the most congested roads.
— Safety—Rail freight is safer than
long-distance road freight using motorway and A roads, as HGVs
are over three times more likely to be involved in fatal accidents[79]
than cars due to a combination of size, lack of proper enforcement
of drivers hours, vehicle overloading and differing foreign operating
standards.
Government Policies support the need to reduce
carbon emissions
— Climate Change Act, which commits in
statue to an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050
— The DECC commitment—To contribute
to sustainable development by seeking energy infrastructure development
that helps reduce climate change while also minimising negative
impacts on the local environment
— The DfT's vision for Developing a
Sustainable Transport System (DaSTS)
Rail freight can contribute to the DaSTS goals
of supporting economic competiveness and growth, reducing transport's
emissions, contributing to better safety security and health and
improve quality of life and promote healthy natural environment.
Rail Freight volumes and potential
Rail freight, which has 11.5% of the surface
transport market (rail and road), was estimated to have removed
6.7 million long distance lorry journeys from UK roads equating
to 1.4 billion lorry kilometres in 2007-08. Coal moved in
2008-09 was 7.91 billion net tonne kilometres.
Rail Freight Group/Freight Transport Association
forecasts of June 2008, indicate that by 2030 rail freight
volumes will have more than doubled.
All these factors are backed up by a report
published by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in early
2009, which states that: "as an option for the reduction
of carbon emissions, the rail freight sector is leagues ahead
of all the other options available. The target should therefore
be to deliver far greater levels of growth in the rail freight
sector than are currently projected."
In view of the NPSs acknowledgement of the need
to reduce carbon emissions, we believe that the Energy NPSs should
have stronger policy in favour of rail freight for transportation
and should have a presumption of using rail and water modes, where
possible.
2. SCRUTINY AND
CONSULTATION PROCESS
There is a danger that the scrutiny of the Energy
NPSs could be rushed as it seems odd that the Energy and Climate
Change Commitee sessions and evidence are being conducted before
the end of the formal DECC consultation. It is therefore crucial
that the written consultations to the DECC consultation are given
full weight.
3. DETAILED RESPONSE
TO DECC CONSULTATION
Detailed response to the Department's consultation
on Energy EN1 NPS
2.1.4 Transition to low carbon economy
This should include recognition of the importance
of reducing the transport and construction carbon elements of
power generation
Traffic and Transport impacts
4.28. We fully support the preference for
water-borne or rail transport in 4.28.8 and state that this
policy must be part of all the applicable energy NPSs. This should
be clarified to make sure that measurement of cost effectiveness
takes into account carbon, safety and congestion benefits of rail.
Mitigation
4.28.6 This provision for demand management
should only apply for road infrastructure as we do not believe
that demand management should be a substitute for investment in
rail.
4.28.9 The IPC should also be able to make
use of rail a mandatory planning condition both for the ongoing
use and construction phase. Example of this was the use of rail
for the construction of Terminal 5 at Heathrow.
Waste management
4.29 Rail and water should be stated as
preferred waste removal modes for industrial and energy waste.
January 2010
78 Page 8 section 10. Back
79
Source: Road Statistics 2008, Tables 3.2 and 5.6, Road Freight
Statistics 2008 Section 5, both UK Department for Transport. Back
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