Written question asked by Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative) on Thursday, 25 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 29 October 2007. It was answered by Tom Harris (Labour) on Monday, 29 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

Freight: Roads

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps she is taking to encourage the migration of freight from road to rail, with particular reference to the (a) A1(M), (b) A14 and (c) A47 major trunk roads; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The Department provides two grants to encourage the migration of freight from road to rail. The Freight Facilities Grant helps offset the capital cost of providing rail freight handling facilities and the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail freight transport. These grants are not targeted at particular roads but are available to freight flows which would otherwise move by road where rail is more expensive. During 2007-08 these schemes will secure the removal of over 1 million lorry journeys from our roads.

Secondary information