Rail union ASLEF has launched a new campaign, “Rail Freight Future”, as the UK network begins the process of gradual nationalisation. The train drivers’ union says it wants to secure a brighter future for the sector, with greater ambition than existing government mandates. The campaign comes as the government looks to reshape the industry through the upcoming Railways Bill, offering what ASLEF describes as “a critical opportunity” to address longstanding issues that have undermined the potential of rail freight.
At the heart of ASLEF’s campaign is a call for meaningful investment and structural reform. “Despite rail freight’s importance,” ASLEF says, “the playing field with road freight benefiting from years of fuel duty freezes and the privatised nature of rail freight in Britain often promoting a race to the bottom as freight operators look to undercut each other to secure contracts, has created an uncertain future for rail freight.”
A clear case for investment
ASLEF is urging the government to invest in infrastructure that will unlock freight capacity across the network. The union has cited schemes such as the full delivery of HS2, the long-delayed Ely Area Capacity Enhancement upgrade (principally to unlock freight traffic growth at Felixstowe) and a rolling programme of rail electrification as vital to ensuring that freight trains have space to run, and that the sector can meet decarbonisation goals.
The union also wants to see rail freight made more competitive through financial reform. While road freight has benefitted from more than a decade of fuel duty freezes, says the union, rail continues to pay to access the tracks it runs on. ASLEF is calling for a review of both road fuel duty and track access charges to level the field and better reflect the environmental costs of road transport.
Political support and legislative ambition
The Rail Freight Future campaign was launched earlier this month with a hosted event at Westminster. ASLEF says it received positive feedback from supportive MPs across the political spectrum. Legislation, entitled the Railways Bill, which enables the nationalisation of the network, is currently going through the parliamentary process. ASLEF says this is a vital moment to ensure that the future of rail freight is not left behind in wider industry reforms.
The union is also calling for freight growth targets to be strengthened. While the 75% growth target set in 2023 was welcomed as a step forward, ASLEF believes the government should be more ambitious. It wants a new, more stretching target for rail freight growth to be enshrined in primary legislation as part of the Railways Bill.
Putting people first
The campaign also highlights the working conditions of freight drivers, many of whom lack access to basic welfare facilities while out on the network. ASLEF is linking Rail Freight Future to its existing *Dignity for Drivers* campaign and says better facilities are key to attracting and retaining skilled drivers as demand grows.
There is also a call to expand the publicly owned footprint in rail freight. One freight operator is currently in public ownership. That operator is Direct Rail Services, which, despite its name, is ironically government-managed by a quite indirect route through its parent company, Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS), which in turn is a subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and that is an agency under the government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. ASLEF argues that growing the public stake in freight operations could be a step toward full nationalisation of the railway, which is a long-standing union policy. It says that would be a means of ensuring long-term strategic direction for the sector.
Economic and environmental role
ASLEF’s campaign underlines the economic and environmental value of rail freight. “Rail freight plays an important role in the UK economy,” says the union’s campaign. “[It is] moving products and materials around the country via the rail network, contributing £2.45bn to the economy with 90% of the economic benefits felt outside of London and the South East, whilst employing over 6,500 workers.
“Rail freight also plays an important role in the UK meeting its net zero obligations,” the campaign notes. “With one freight train producing 76% less CO₂, 90% less PM10 particulates and 15x less Nitrogen Dioxide than the equivalent road journey.” ASLEF says the moment for action is now, to build a rail freight sector that delivers for the economy, the environment and the communities it serves. Historically, ASLEF was known by its full name of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen.
