UK policy failing rail freight

Elected in summer but failing the rail freight sector by winter. That’s the conclusion of a recent submission to “Private Eye” – Britain’s most satirical publication, with a reputation for scathing insights on the corridors of power. An excoriating critique of UK government policy towards rail freight leaves readers in no doubt that what Westminster says and what Westminster does is not the same thing.

A highly critical evaluation lays bare the relationship between government policy and government action on the rail freight industry. The story, published as an opinion editorial with a pen name, claims that even the target of increasing rail freight traffic by 75 per cent by 2050 would make little material difference to overall industrial decarbonisation. Private Eye says far more should be done, but even that modest target is being impacted negatively by current government inaction.

Effective investigative journalism

Few people in the UK are unaware of Private Eye. The fortnightly publication does not cut a glamorous dash on the shelf. It may be printed on newspaper stock, but it has a heavyweight reputation for mercilessly satirising government and public office, as well as an understated reputation for extremely effective investigative journalism. The publication is just entering its sixty-fourth year, and many of its most incisive and dogged reporting has begun with a short satirical piece published under an assumed name. It’s fair to say that the author of the editorial in question – Dr B Ching – is not on the staff at the London office.

The author is an obvious reference to the most infamous name in British railway history. Dr Richard Beeching was an industrialist who reviewed Britain’s nationalised railways in the early 1960s. His “Reshaping of British Railways” report – resulted in a radical reduction in the chaotic and unplanned national network – commonly known as the “Beeching Axe”. There was controversy over the enthusiasm of the transport secretary, Ernest Marples. He had commissioned the report and also greatly benefitted personally from a consequent emphasis on road building, through his own construction company.

Ministerial churn rate

Private Eye’s “correspondent” points to the revolving door at the Department for Transport, which leaves the incumbent minister frequently the least well briefed individual in the room, when it comes to making policy decisions or negotiating with the industry and the unions. The current government, led by the left-wing Labour Party, is only six months old and is already on its second minister – keeping up with the churn rate of its predecessors in power, the right-wing Conservatives.

Fuel duty also comes in for scrutiny. The fixed-rate tax on fossil fuel has not moved in three years, which Private Eye says vastly benefits road transport. It also points to electricity prices, which made some electric locomotives uneconomical to run. According to the publication, electric traction miles have fallen forty per cent in the last decade in the UK. Moves like the Royal Mail, which abandoned its ageing fleet of trains – with no apparent replacement strategy in place – is a case in point of “rail reverting to road” in the face of a net-zero government policy.

Decline and fall in tonne miles

It’s well known that road transport has the lion’s share of freight miles. However, the rather dubious metric of “lorry journeys avoided” is quoted, as an illustration of policy failing to halt a fall in rail freight traffic. Private Eye notes that ten years ago, the number of such journeys “avoided” was a little under ten million every year. By 2023, that figure was down to something just over five and a half million. In the interim, says Private Eye, road truck mileage has grown by 5.6 per cent. On the face of it, that seems a modest growth, given the explosion in delivery logistics and online retail.

Taking a swipe at coal traffic, the periodical says that too little has been done to replace those lost flows. It should be noted, however, that rail freight has picked up a growing supply of aggregates traffic. There is even an industry growing up around repurposing former coal wagons to carry other bulk loads.

Further investigations possible

Such new traffic is mainly minerals for construction. However, it’s also biomass, almost exclusively for the Drax power station complex. Private Eye believes that even this traffic may come under the “net-zero” scrutiny – and that would threaten fully seven per cent of all rail freight tonne miles, in a curious combination of metric and imperial measures.

Private Eye is a satirical publication, of which there are many contemporaries around Europe. However, the journal’s hardline investigative journalism is equally respected and feared in the corridors of power. Whether there are further revelations to come in the new year remains to be read. However, some of Private Eye’s greatest scoops and exposés have begun life as a simple opinion piece from the pen of correspondents such as Dr. Ching.