Future of Rail Freight: Growth, Innovation and Delivery Held in partnership with Network Rail and the Rail Freight Group This paper summarises the ideas shared at Future of Rail Freight, on 8 July in York, drawing on workshops, panel discussions and keynote speaker contributions. We would like to thank all participants for their contributions which RIA will draw on in our future work programme. Further contributions to this topic are welcome, please contact RIA Senior Policy Executive Dominic Poole, at dominic.poole@riagb.org.uk. Contents Key Takeaways
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Why Rail Freight Matters
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The Growth Target, GBR and Devolution
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Targeted Electrification
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Planning, Terminals and Freight Land
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Innovation and Deployment
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Market Access and Supply Chain Readiness
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Key Takeaways 1. Freight remains a “hidden economy”: Freight is poorly understood by the public and government alike, and tends only to get attention when it stops working. 2. The Government freight growth target is achievable but not automatic: Hitting at least 75% freight growth by 2050 depends on reliability of access, terminal capacity and planning improving alongside it. 3. GBR needs a freight mandate from day one, not a retrofit: The growth target, GBR access and use policy, and cross-boundary planning all need to be built into GBR's design (from day 1, autumn 2027), with enough national oversight to stop devolution fragmenting freight services – a ‘guiding mind’ remains crucial. 4. Targeted, not blanket, electrification is the credible next step for freight traction: Using existing wires better, filling short gaps, and selectively electrifying a small number of strategic freight routes. Battery-only locomotives are not viable beyond shunting. 5. Planning is one of the industry's biggest constraints: Freight terminal capacity, aggregates supply for the housing sector, and strategic freight sites are all being lost to a planning system that still does not understand freight's economic importance. 6. The wider case for Rail Freight needs to be valued: Secondary and tertiary benefits (extra paths, reduced congestion, avoided emissions) need to be monetised, not assumed. 7. Deployment, not invention, is the technology bottleneck: Proven technology and fragmented but resilient funding both exist. Getting that technology into business-as-usual is where progress stalls.
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