1996-11-01 Watts approves the re-opening of Cornish rail freight line (Department of Transport)

1996-10-31 Watts publishes plans to streamline freight grants (Department of Transport)

1996-10-09 New freight grants keep 70,000 lorries off roads (Department of Transport)

1996-10-03 EC plan for more freight on rail welcomed by Watts (Department of Transport)

1996-09-19 Watts announces major boost for rail freight (Department of Transport)

_______________________________________________________________

date 4 December 1996
source Department of Transport
type Press release

note 372

Two new grant awards which will shift more freight from road to rail
were announced today by John Watts, Minister for Railways and Roads.

Speaking at the Intermodal '96 Conference at Earls Court today, Mr
Watts said:

"This is excellent news and is a demonstration of the revival of the
rail freight industry in the private sector. Freight grant
expenditure has increased in each of the last four financial years to
over #4 million, and this year the Government expects to award more
in freight grants than in any year since 1986.

"The grant scheme has been very successful in securing freight to
rail and removing lorries from our roads. Freight carried using
facilities funded by Government grants amounts to about 10 million
tonnes, or around 12 per cent by volume of all rail freight in
Britain."

Two grants have been awarded:

A grant of #437,238 has been awarded to RJB Mining, for the
provision of rail loading facilities in Derbyshire. This investment
will facilitate the movement by rail of 530,000 tonnes of coal over
almost two years, and will remove 50,000 lorry journeys from roads in
the East Midlands.

A track access grant to English Welsh & Scottish Railway EWS) will
secure to rail, for the next two and a half years, up to 200,000
tonnes of sand moved for Tarmac Quarry Products between Marks Tey
(Essex) and Hayes Middlesex). This will remove around 17,000 lorry
journeys from roads in the south-east of England, including the M25.

Notes to Editors

1. Under the Government's Freight Facilities Grants scheme, grants
are available towards the capital cost of rail and inland waterway
freight equipment in cases where the traffic would otherwise move by
road.

2. The Track Access Grant is a revenue grant to defray the costs to
freight operators of access to the rail network. Like the Freight
Facilities Grant this is only available where the removal of freight
from the roads will result in environmental and wider benefits.



# = pounds sterling

Railhub Archive ::: 1996-12-04 DoT-001