Coal drops off as containers grow

摘要

According to the latest edition of National Rail Trends published by ORR on December 13, in the six months to September 30 2007 freight tonne-km hauled were 7% down on the previous spring and summer quarters, mainly due to a 15% drop in coal movements. This was partially compensated by a year-on-year increase in 'domestic intermodal' - largely maritime containers moving through UK ports - which NRT puts at 14% for the same period. It is true that traffic during the two summer quarters of 2006-07 was exceptionally high, with coal comfortably exceeding any two consecutive quarters for at least two decades. The fact remains that unless something changes quickly, it looks as though 2007-08 could see the first check to the annual increase in tonne-km that has been recorded consistently since the Hatfield derailment on October 17 2000.