HC Deb 03 June 1981 vol 5 c372W
37. Sir Anthony Meyer

asked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the annual tonnage of freight carried by rail and road, respectively; and what is his estimate of the percentage of road-borne freight which could be diverted to rail if road transport charges were raised to a punitive level.

Mr. Fowler

In 1979, the latest year for which comparative figures are available, 169 million tonnes was moved by rail and 1,504 million tonnes by road. It is no part of my policy to distort competition between modes. I believe that fair competition provides the basis for the best service to customers and the best use of resources. I have set the rail freight business a remit to operate commercially and within this remit it should seek to gain such traffic as is best suited to the service that rail can offer.