Rail Freight moved across the U.K fell by 7% in the last quarter from January to March, compared to the same period last year according to the Office of Rail and Roads quarterly rail usage report.
Freight moved has in general decreased since a decade ago, with a peak of 22 billion tonnes net kilometre in 2012, to just under 16 billion this year.
The report highlighted several reasons why this would be the case, with strike action across the network on several days when rail freight could run alongside a dip in the share of construction materials being moved – The report showed a 4% decrease due to weakening demand. Construction had the second largest share of all freight moved however, at 31%, which showed the impact that HS2 is having on the industry at large.
Alongside some of the variable trends, the increase in coal being transported by rail stood out as notable. Whilst most of the statistics have shown rail freight activity decreasing in volume and traffic, coal showed a 50% increase on the same period, with 0.46 billion net tonne moved. Rising gas prices and the need to be prepared for winter power shortages are behind the surge in coal demand it is believed.
The success of coal however is an outlier, with a vast majority of other sectors within UK rail freight falling. Oil, waste, metals and international freight all fell significantly in freight moved.
It was also bad news for punctuality within the rail freight sector, with the freight delivery metric (a percentage score of freight that arrives within 15 minutes of its planned destination) was the lowest ever recorded with 86%. It follows a downward trend since 2020/21 with infrastructure projects and closures partly to blame for the delays.
Photo: Istock - Chris Hepburn
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