{"id":331061,"date":"2025-12-16T22:29:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=186772"},"modified":"2025-12-16T22:29:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T12:29:54","slug":"railway-helps-to-deliver-extra-christmas-cheer-in-200th-anniversary-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=331061","title":{"rendered":"Railway helps to deliver extra Christmas cheer in 200th anniversary year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

New figures reveal that\u202frail freight is playing an even bigger role\u202fin the run up to Christmas this year, bringing extra festive cheer to homes across Britain and cause for celebration in the 200th anniversary of the modern railway.<\/p>\n

Freight trains are helping to deliver millions of festive goods, including Christmas crackers, puddings, mince pies, decorations, wrapping paper, trees, toys and wine to shops around the country. About a third of Tesco\u2019s Christmas range will reach the shelves by rail freight.<\/p>\n

Overall, in the three months since mid-September, as retailers prepare for the festivities, more than 1.1 billion tonnes of consumer goods and fresh produce have been moved by more than 12,000 freight trains, an increase of 10% and 4% respectively since last year.<\/p>\n

In addition, to keep supermarket shelves stocked, in the week before Christmas 1,000 trains will move about 90 million tonnes of seasonal goods from ports and freight terminals around Britain.<\/p>\n

Richard Moody, programme director at Network Rail,\u202fsaid:<\/p>\n

\u201cRail freight companies are delighted to play\u202fa\u202fcentral role\u202fin\u202fdelivering Christmas cheer during rail\u2019s bicentenary year,\u202fensuring\u202ffamilies\u202fhave everything they need to celebrate in style.\u202fWith only a fraction of the emissions compared to\u202froad haulage, every tree, pudding and toy transported by rail helps to make a green Christmas.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany friends and families around the Christmas table will be unaware that much of their festive fare was carried to market by rail freight, one of Santa\u2019s not-so-little helpers.\u201d\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

A\u202ffreight train can carry as\u202fmuch cargo as 129 heavy goods vehicles\u202fwith only a fraction of the emissions, helping to tackle the climate emergency and reduce traffic jams.<\/p>\n

Ben Smith, head of primary, global and rail logistics at Tesco, added: <\/p>\n

\u201cOur distribution network plays a vital role in our efforts to become carbon neutral in our own operations by 2035. Moving more than 30% of our packaged Christmas range by rail allows us to get products to our stores in a more sustainable way, by removing thousands of lorry journeys each year and reducing our carbon emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>New figures reveal that\u202frail freight is playing an even bigger role\u202fin the run up to Christmas this year, bringing extra festive cheer to homes across Britain and cause for celebration in the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Freight trains are helping to deliver millions of festive goods, including Christmas crackers, puddings, mince pies, decorations, [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16017,78,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-industry-news","category-rail-freight","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t