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Dept of the Environment Transport and the Regions

Answer

Mr. Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 4 April 2000, Official Report, column 427W, on 44 tonne lorries, what studies he has (a) carried out and (b) commissioned on the effect on (i) rail freight and (ii) the environment of allowing the use of 44 tonne lorries; if he will publish data on the expected level of direct transfers between road and rail freight following the introduction of such lorries; and if he will list the measures the shadow Strategic Rail Authority is planning to support rail freight. [118841] Mr. Hill: In its interim report "Permitting 44 tonne lorries for general use in the UK", the Commission for Integrated Transport considered carefully the impact of 44 tonne lorries on the rail freight market. The Government accept the Commission's view that the overall environmental advantage lies in allowing 44 tonne lorries to operate generally. Not only will the efficiency savings result in a substantial reduction in lorry mileage but the use of 6-axle lorries, with a lower drive axle weight, will cause less wear to roads and bridges than existing 40 tonne, 5-axle vehicles already on our roads. This is based on research carried out by the US Highways Research Board, and confirmed by the UK Transport Research Laboratory and by work carried out in Germany. The Commission concluded that further work to estimate the precise effect on rail freight's market share would be unlikely to produce reliable results in the light of the Rail Regulator's forthcoming review of track access charges and other factors. The Government set up the shadow Strategic Rail Authority (sSRA) with a remit to develop detailed recommendations on measures to promote the growth of rail freight. That work will help inform our 10-year plan for transport, due to be published in the summer, and the Commission's final report on 44 tonne lorries, expected in the autumn.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

348 c445-6W; 118841

Session

1999-00

Subjects

Freight Large goods vehicles Railways Roads Research Transport Weight limits

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk