Freight News, Logistics, Rail


Think small and cut carbon, says CILT

[ June 4, 2025   //   ]

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK (CILT UK) urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ to protect and boost spending on freight and logistics projects in the Comprehensive Spending Review and called for a focus on small scale. 

These should include improvement of key rail routes connecting major ports to centres of demand, it said.

Chair of CILT’s Rail Freight Forum, Julian Worth, explained: “For example, electrifying just three miles of railway from London Gateway – the UK‘s fastest growing container port   – at a cost of less than £10m, would allow trains to be hauled by electric locomotives all the way to Manchester, Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow.”

Electrification of a small number of short gaps in the network, such as the above, would allow freight trains to be hauled by electric locomotives over long distances, with major productivity benefits.

Chair of CILT’s Public Policy Committee, Sue Terpilowski, added: “Recent investment in infrastructure has seen very extended delivery times. We believe the emphasis going forward – and certainly for the course of this Parliament – should be on small schemes which can be delivered within three years from authorisation to delivery, rather than the “mega” projects of recent decades.”

Tags: