Easington MP Grahame Morris, has shown his support for increasing the volume of rail freight to minimise the number of HGVs on local roads. 

In helping to launch a new report in Parliament by the Rail Freight Group, Grahame joined the Rail Minister and other politicians alongside leading members of the rail industry to champion the UK’s railway as an engine for future and sustainable growth. 

The report, Freight Forward, highlights the role which rail freight has played over the last 200 years and how the railway can be utilised now to help deliver the next generation of housing, build the UK’s future energy infrastructure, construct new transport networks and help construct the reservoirs and infrastructure which are planned for the decades to come.  

Currently, rail freight services move a quarter of all containerised goods from our ports, contribute £2.45 billion of economic benefits to the UK economy and reduce lorry movements by more than 1.6 billion kilometres (roughly 2,100 trips to the moon and back). The rail freight sector has the capacity and ambition to do even more. 

Speaking after the event, Grahame Morris MP said, ‘It was great to help launch the new report from the Rail Freight Group and champion new ideas to increase the use of the UK’s railways and relieve the pressure from HGVs on our local roads. Without rail freight, we would have 7 million more lorry movements on the UK’s roads. With road damage, congestion and emissions being a local challenge, getting more goods and materials onto the railway is essential to grow the economy in an environmentally sustainable manner. I’ve spoken in Parliament of the opportunity to move more freight by rail at the Port of Seaham, and I’m keen to play my part in making this happen.’ 

Rail Freight Group Director General Maggie Simpson said, ‘We are very grateful to Grahame Morris MP for helping us launch Freight Forward in Parliament with the Rail Minister, a cross-party group of MPs and Peers and senior members of the rail industry all joining to support the UK’s railway. Grahame’s push to get more freight onto the railway at the Port of Seaham is exactly what we need from our elected representatives. Together, we are determined to grow the railway for freight, make it the engine of all that moves across the country and help grow our economy in a manner which best protects the environment.’ 

The report and launch come as legislation is being passed in Parliament to set up Great British Railways and bring track and train together within one organisation. The rail freight sector is pushing to ensure that freight expansion is at the heart of these new reforms.