§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what recent assessment he has made of the effect of rail freight facilities grants on the volume of rail freight; and if he will make a statement. [110993]
§ Mr. HillThe table gives details of all rail freight grants awarded by my Department since May 1997. Grants are awarded against tonnage committed for the life of each scheme.
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Awarded Total value (£) Total tonnage committed (million tonnes) Lorry journeys saved as a result Freight facilities grants 31 30,517,625 20,549,600 1,739,500 Track access grants 39 18,813,445 5,535,700 640,600 Total 70 49,431,070 126,085,300 2,380,100 1 Plus 2,380,000 containers and 770,000 vehicles linked to these grants In addition to these awards, during the period between May 1997 and May 1999, Freightliner received Track Access Grant payments of more than £36 million, having made over 500,000 medium to long distance container movements by rail. These rail movements saved a like number of similar distance road movements.
We believe that but for payment of these grants, this traffic would not be moving by rail.