Longer trucks will decimate rail freight, says RFG

Rail Freight Group has voiced its concern at UK government proposals to extend the length of articulated lorries by up to 2.05 metres.

The Dept for Transport consultation, which closes today, outlines plans to permit lorries of up to 18.75 metres to operate in the UK, despite the devastating impact that this would have for the rail freight sector. The DfT’s own impact assessment shows that the introduction of these longer lorries would reduce domestic rail freight growth by two thirds by 2025, and fails to properly address the viability of the remaining traffic on rail. The analysis states that this reduction would benefit the logistics sector, with some 84% of the quoted cost savings associated with longer lorries coming from reduced rail costs. 

RFG opposes the introduction of longer semi-trailers for the UK market on the grounds that it would seriously undermine the market for domestic rail freight, and is unlikely to deliver the benefits claimed.  RFG believes that the DfT’s support of the proposal contradicts previous policy support for multimodal solutions in freight and logistics.

Furthermore, RFG is concerned by the DfT’s admission that longer semi-trailers would be marginally less safe than existing units. Should the DfT proceed, then RFG has made a number of recommendations, including a trial period of operation that would be limited to longer demountable units only, and that longer semi-trailers be limited to single-deck only.
RFG Policy manager Maggie Simpson commented that, despite the huge impacts on domestic rail freight growth, DfT’s plans to allow longer lorries to operate cuts across all the department’s previous commitments to multimodal transport, to congestion relief and to climate change.