The volume of goods carried by rail in Great Britain fell last year by 5.5%, new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have shown.
According to the latest statistics, 29.9 million tonnes of freight were carried by rail in the final quarter of 2014-2015, leaving the annual total at 110.1 million tonnes (2013-14: 116.6 million tonnes). The total amount of freight moved, meanwhile, came to 22.2 billion tonne-km – down 2.2% on the peak of 22.7 billion tonne-km recorded in 2013-2014.
The ORR’s figures show there was a 15.5% decline in the volumes of coal carried by rail during the year to 43.5 million tonnes. Other freight reached a new peak of 66.6 million tonnes, however.
The ORR declined to say whether it was disappointed with the drop-off in rail freight.
Earlier this month, following new figures showing that rail freight had become more reliable, the FTA warned it must also become cheaper and more flexible if it was to grow its share of the market.
The latest report cites a 4.9% market share for rail freight in 2011 (100.4 million tonnes); the ORR has been unable to provide any market share information for 2012, 2013 or 2014, however.
