The Scottish Parliament has been urged to recognise the ‘strategic economic benefits of investing in rail freight’.
The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has written to the Infrastructure & Capital Investment Committee (ICC) of the Parliament, urging it to press the Scottish Government – in its current Spending Review – to put freight modal shift grants ‘on a properly-funded budgetary basis over a sustained period of time’.
In a submission paper to the Committee, David Spaven, RFG Scottish Representative, wrote:
“Freight modal shift offers strong benefits in terms of economic development policy – providing a resilient alternative to total dependence on road haulage, a transport mode which is more vulnerable than rail to longer-term oil price and security trends.
“Greater availability of rail freight facilities and services allows shippers of freight (manufacturers, processors, retail groups etc.) to benefit from a choice of modes of transport.”
He went on to comment: “However, the Spending Review places the long-standing Freight Facilities Grant (FFG) scheme in doubt, and provides no clarity on how the Scottish Government is going to deliver capital grant assistance to achieve freight modal shift objectives.”
The RFG submission voices its concern that planned spending on the new ‘Scottish Futures Fund’ in 2012-13 provides for only £6.5m to cover ‘warm homes’, low carbon vehicle development, walking and cycling initiatives, and freight modal shift from road haulage to rail and sea freight.
