Freight diversionary routes

摘要

The pressures on Britain's rail network are huge. Railfreight has grown from around 13bn tonne-kilometres on the eve of privatisation to more than 20bn tn/km today. Network Rail expects freight to grow by a further 30% in the next decade and by as much as 140% over the next 30 years. And rising volumes of freight are having to compete with more frequent passenger services on many parts of the network: the railway today carries more passengers than at any time in the last 60 years. Coupled with ever higher performance targets for rail freight, which require the railway to be able to work around planned track maintenance requirements and cope with unplanned emergencies such as bridge strikes by road users, these factors explain why Network Rail is investing in developing diversionary routes for freight trains.