Rail freight in Great Britain

Three Class 37 locomotives hauling a coal train on the Rhymney Line in 1997
Mass of freight carried by rail in the UK from 1983 to 2021 (annual rolling average). There was a large decrease in coal carried in 1984–5 due to the miners' strike.[1]
Rail freight moved in the UK from 1983 to 2019, in terms of mass-distance per year[2]

The railway network in Great Britain has been used to transport goods of various types and in varying volumes since the early 19th century. Network Rail, which owns and maintains the network, aims to increase the amount of goods carried by rail.[3] In 2015–16 Britain's railways moved 17.8 billion net tonne kilometres, a 20% fall compared to 2014–15.[4] Coal accounted for 13.1% of goods transport in Britain, down considerably from previous years.[4] There are no goods transported by railway in Northern Ireland.[5]

  1. ^ "ORR: Freight lifted".
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ "Freight opportunities". Network Rail. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b Office of Rail Regulation, http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/22008/freight-rail-usage-2015-16-quarter-4.pdf
  5. ^ "How the Rail Freight industry works". Mode Shift Centre. Archived from the original on 4 March 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.