Transport for the North has issued a statement about the benefits to be derived from the Transpennine Route Upgrade.

Expanding the use of rail to transport freight is essential to achieving a more productive, sustainable, and better-connected north of England. Although freight transported by rail already contributes £2.45bn to the UK economy very year, with the right investment that could increase to £5.2bn annually by 2050.

The use of rail is accompanied by major benefits, including:

• Reduced congestion, with each average-sized freight train transporting the equivalent load of 76 lorries, while the largest trains can remove up to 129 HGVs from the roads.
• Lower carbon emissions, since transporting freight by rail supports will help to reduce emissions and improve air quality.
• Supply chain efficiency, since a single freight train can transport enough steel to manufacture 60,000 white goods or 1,000 new cars.

A major driver in maximising the benefits of transporting freight by rail is the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which is an £11bn investment designed to transform connectivity between the east and west in the north of England.

As well as benefitting passengers, the upgrade will have provision to run an extra 15 freight trains each day, as long as their paths in the timetable are used effectively.

After extensive consultation with the region’s combined authorities and with rail freight operators, Transport for the North has produced a document describing the specific interventions required to unlock the full potential for freight resulting from the Transpennine Route Upgrade. This has been submitted as statutory advice to the Secretary of State for Transport, and is available online here.