Major UK multiples could be deterred from using domestic railfreight if a new in-depth report into the transport mode increases charges.
A freight expert has warned Sir Roy McNulty’s Rail Value for Money report, due out later this year, could hit freight operators hard as the minority user of UK railways.
The study - commissioned by the former Labour government and sped up by the coalition - looks to maximise state value from the rail industry, which is supported by large amounts of public funding while simultaneously being in growth.
The Freight Transport Association’s manager of railfreight policy Chris McCray told FPJ the landmark report could see government “impose passenger charges on freight users”.
McCray said: “At the moment, raifreight users pay comparatively marginal track access costs where franchise rail operators pay more. There have been hints [in the build up to the report being published] that railfreight should pay more. That sends the wrong kind of signal to potential customers likes Asda and Tesco etc.
“The danger is that changes the government puts in place favour the predominant user - passengers - and innocently intended changes to the system end up with bad compromises.”
There has been an upturn in UK supermarkets using domestic railfreight options but stringent changes could push product back on to the roads, according to McCray.
McNulty’s findings will be reported to the department for transport which has jurisdiction in England and to the Scottish government.
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