§ Mr. Don FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what research his Department has(a) carried out, (b)commissioned and (c) consulted upon into the future rail freight demand (i) for Great Britain as a whole, 527W (ii) between different train operating companies, (iii) in relation to temporal variations and (iv) according to geographical variations; if he will place copies of published research reports in the Library; and if he will make a statement. [23149]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department commissioned research into future demand to move deep-sea containers by rail to inform consideration of Freightliner's recent application for track access grant. There is no published research report.
My Department has commissioned a review of freight modelling techniques across all modes. This will inform the future development of the Department's national transport model for Great Britain as a whole. There is no published research report.
My Department had regard to advice from the Strategic Rail Authority into future rail freight demand to inform the development of the 10-Year Plan and the last Spending Review. Details of the model and its results are reported in 'The Background Analysis' paper of 'Transport 2010: The 10-Year Plan', copies of which were placed in the Library in July 2000.