“The real way forward for freight transport isn’t bigger lorries but more freight travelling by rail,” said Tony Bosworth, spokesman for Friends of the Earth.
“Rail freight is safer and much less polluting than lorries, and one freight train can take 50 lorry journeys off our roads.”
When will these [zb] get the message. If you want to put all your beans from Wigan on a train or all your Cornflakes from Manchester how do you get it from somewhere like Willesden junction to Hoddesdon.
Railfreight will only work if there is an infrastructure of sidings and factorys with rail links, Its not competitive, its too slow.
I worked out of Eurocentral or Trafford Park on 44t railfreight and the containers would go missing or would be sent somewhere else.
Edited for language content-ATKIG11
Well you tried 
They made a big error in the 60’s by reducing the rail network and tearing up the lines, so rail can never compete with road transport.
Up here in the north eastern states all industrial parks etc have rail sidings going to the major companies and I often find I am being off loaded or loaded alongside railfrieght cars, it has not reduced the use of trucks in any way but companies like J B Hunt actually send their trailers across the country on the back of a train.
The down side 
too many damm level crossings 
In the past I have sat for about 15 minute at one crossing only to have the train stop with the last car on the crossing, then reverse, and having to wait for the entire two mile or so long train to go the other way 
Do we as driver really want to haul heavier loads? The Hauliers want it because they say it will mean cheaper haulage cost and help relieve the driver shortage. However what percentage of truck run at max weight and if they want to relieve the driver shortage then improve pay and conditions. As for FoE they have a policy of making road travel so bad that it will force vehicles off the road and as for frieght on rails the netwrok is at capacity now and cannot take anymore without major investment and new track.
I agree with Muckles, The only way to get more drivers is to increase the pay and give better conditions. 
The down side too many damm level crossings In the past I have sat for about 15 minute at one crossing only to have the train stop with the last car on the crossing, then reverse, and having to wait for the entire two mile or so long train to go the other way
[/quote]
Gotcha beat there Pat!, I sat at a Rail Crossing a couple of months ago for 53 mins!, and I regualary used to sit at one in Mississippi for 20-30 mins, (note) I do not refer to the crossings as level crossings, because to actually refer to them as level would be really stretching the immagination, I don’t think there is a ‘level’ crossing anywhere in this country! these people can put a spaceship on Mars, but seem to find it impossible to make the road surface the same level as the rails!, much like the road surface before a bridge joint! usually at least 1-2 inches in level difference.
Every ton moved by road vehicle = INCOME BY TAX.
Every ton moved by rail = SUBSIDIES.
What kind of goverment would not only subsidise freight but also risk losing the income from bust haulage firms. A VERY BRAVE & STUPID ONE.
Cliff there are a few crossings I know where the gap between the rails has no black top filling what so ever, luckily they are mostly just after 90 degree turns so nobody should be doing more that about 10 mph before they see them.
The longest train I can remember was at Bellows Falls VT/NH. I came down the hill and looked across the bridge to the NH side, there was a train crossing so I stopped to use the restroom and get a coffee, when I came out the train was still crossing, I drove across the bridge to NH and sat there another 10 mins, the last car stopped just a couple of feet short of the crossing and the barriers stayed down for 5 minutes before it moved off. I recon it was about 3 or 4 miles long.
Sat at another crossing one day when the barriers went down, the train aproached and stopped on the crossing, the driver climbed out, walked across the tracks and bought a coffee before going on his way.
.