At a reception held at the House of Commons yesterday evening, Tuesday, 5 March, politicians from across the political spectrum, freight operators, and their customers gathered to discuss how to maximise the opportunity to grow rail freight, both now and in the next Parliament.

The Rail Partners Freight Parliamentary Reception 2024, and was jointly hosted by Martin Vickers MP (Conservative, Cleethorpes, Chair of All Party Parliamentary Rail Group), Daniel Zeichner MP (Labour, Cambridge), and Wera Hobhouse MP (Liberal Democrat, Bath).

It followed the publication earlier this week of Rail Partners’ report Freight Britain: An engine for green growth.

The three political speakers all acknowledged the importance of rail freight to Britain, highlighting its ability to reduce congestion, improve air quality and support wider economic growth, committing to support rail freight growth.

Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners and Andrea Rossi, chief executive of DB Cargo UK, highlighted how freight operators have invested over £3bn since privatisation to improve the performance, safety, and reliability of freight services.

They called for politicians to create the right conditions for growth, with a long-term framework that will support operators and their customers.

Crucially, it will encourage investors by providing certainty, confidence and a level playing field to allow rail freight to compete with road haulage.

Andy Bagnall said: “Growing rail freight compared to other modes of transport should be a national priority regardless of who wins the next election. Not only is rail freight a lower-carbon way of moving goods, contributing to Britain’s net zero ambitions and getting lorries off our roads, but it also contributes £2.45bn in economic benefits to the UK every year, 90% of which accrue outside of London and the Southeast.

“Rail freight operators want to invest in better, greener trains and freight facilities. To do so they need decision-makers to work in partnership with them and create a favourable environment for growth. That means providing confidence around access to the network and investments in capacity.

“Increasing rail freight services has the backing of all the main parties, so government should invest for the long term in tangible support, from targeted infrastructure investment to the right incentives to encourage customers to switch to rail, helping to decarbonise supply chains.”

Andrea Rossi, CEO of DB Cargo UK said: “Rail freight has enormous environmental and socio-economic benefits, with freight trains taking millions of HGVs off the roads each year, saving millions of tonnes of carbon in the process and easing congestion on our already crowded roads, leaving us in no doubt at all that freight belongs on rail.

“But we need to get more freight on rail. The Government has set the sector a challenge to deliver 75% growth by 2050. That target is a floor for growth and not a ceiling – we want to smash through it and we will be working with our customers and stakeholders to help deliver it.”