The Year that was and the Year Ahead

Alexandra Herdman, Senior Policy Manager, Logistics UK looks back at 2022 and what the year ahead might hold for freight

2022 has been a slow and sometimes challenging year for rail with countless train strikes due to disagreements over job security, pay and conditions for workers. However, there have also been many encouraging developments throughout the past twelve months.

Approximately 1.6 billion tonnes of goods are transported into and around the UK each year with the freight sector adding £127 billion annually to the economy. In June 2022, government recognised the importance of freight when it published The Future of Freight Plan; the first-ever crossmodal and cross-government plan for the UK freight transport sector that highlighted the need for a national freight network. The overall vision of the plan is a freight and logistics sector that is cost-efficient, reliable, resilient, environmentally sustainable and valued by society. An encouraging step forward for the sector, it will also improve understanding of the domestic freight network to support better decision-making in government and industry and maximise opportunities for modal shift. Moving forwards, it is imperative that this plan is implemented in the correct way to ensure that a multimodal approach to transport is taken. To do this, it is essential that government communicates efficiently with the freight sector, and Logistics UK looks forward to continuing with these discussions in 2023.

Much progress has also been made across the HS2 project throughout the past twelve months, including completion of the first section of the UK’s longest viaduct. The largest infrastructure project in Europe, when completed it will link Manchester, Birmingham and London via a high-speed rail network. Despite some concerns from politicians regarding public funding following the latest Autumn Budget and current economic crisis, this is a crucial project for the levelling up agenda. As of October 2022, the project supports over 29,000 jobs and early works in London delivered £115 million of social value to local communities. Additionally, 61 per cent of contracts are with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), equating to over 1,800 SMEs in the HS2 supply chain.

As well as progress, 2022 has also seen some challenges. In May 2021, the WilliamShapps Plan for Rail was published and included the decision to establish Great British Railways (GBR). Unfortunately, due to a lack of parliamentary time, the Transport Bill – which formally included the creation of GBR – has now been delayed, with former Transport Secretary, AnneMarie Trevelyan, explaining the Department for Transport (DfT) has lost the opportunity to bring it forward in this session of Parliament.

Despite this, in following Parliamentary questions, government has confirmed that much the work of GBR can still be advanced without legislation and in the view of Logistics UK, GBR must continue on its trajectory in 2023 and become a fully established office.

It is imperative freight remains high on the political agenda in the coming year and does not become the forgotten relative of passenger rail. One key challenge is timetable capacity – even with reduced passenger numbers, securing timetable slots for freight is difficult – as well as operational considerations at passenger stations. In due course, new legislation must ensure this protection for rail freight. This is key for two reasons: to supporting environmental and congestion goals and to unlock the economic benefits that partnership with private sector investors in rail freight can deliver.

Also vital across the next twelve months are much needed infrastructure improvements, such as the proposal to upgrade the railway in the Ely area to address significant bottlenecks on the important route from the Port of Felixstowe to the Midlands and beyond. Track electrification must be a key consideration of infrastructure improvements. While rail only produces 1.5 per cent of all transport emissions each year, only 38 per cent of GB’s rail network is electrified. Whilst it is unlikely the whole network will be electrified before 2050, further innovations in battery electric and hydrogen fuel cells show promise for decarbonising rail.

Looking ahead, 2023 must be the year for ambitious rail freight growth to be cemented in legislation. With rail freight stagnating over recent years, the sector needs certainty; changing government priorities and postponed policies must not delay this. Logistics UK is looking forward to working with members and government in the coming year to ensure rail freight is at the top of the agenda.

Logistics UK is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing logistics businesses which are vital to keeping the UK trading, and more than seven million people directly employed in the making, selling and moving of goods. With COVID-19, Brexit, new technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the way goods move across borders and through the supply chain, logistics has never been more important to UK plc. Logistics UK supports, shapes and stands up for safe and efficient logistics, and is the only business group which represents the whole industry, with members from the road, rail, sea and air industries, as well as the buyers of freight services such as retailers and manufacturers whose businesses depend on the efficient movement of goods. For more information about the organisation and its work, including its ground-breaking research into the impacts of Covid-19 on the whole supply chain, please visit logistics.org.uk.