Rail Minister announces £44m to transport freight by rail

Rail Minister Tom Harris today announced the award of £44m in new rail freight grants at the Rail Freight 2007 conference.

The grants, for carrying freight by rail which would otherwise be carried on the roads, mean the equivalent of more than 2.1m lorry journeys and 631m lorry kilometres will be removed from Britain's roads over the next three years.

Speaking at Rail Freight 2007, Transport Minister Tom Harris said:

"I am pleased to announce today that we have awarded £44 million in funding over the next three years for the movement of freight on rail through the Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement Scheme (REPS).

"Our aim is to secure a major shift of goods from road onto rail. This will make a significant contribution towards reducing road congestion, accidents and carbon emissions.

"We will continue to provide financial support to rail freight where it is affordable and where it offers the greatest benefits when assessed alongside support for other modes. There is funding available and I would like to encourage the industry to get involved and make best use of it."

The next bid round for REPS closes on the 15th June. The details of these REPS contracts for the 2007/08 to 2009/10 period are:

Grant Recipient      Scheme       Traffic Details  Contract Value                                                    (£) Direct Rail Services REPS (B)     WH Malcolm       136,339 EWS                  REPS (B)     Cemex / British  214,840                                   Sugar EWS                  REPS (B)     Cemex            266,625 EWS                  REPS (B)     Cemex            199,584 EWS                  REPS (B)     J Clubb          84,807 EWS                  REPS (B)     Mendip Rail      165,240 EWS                  REPS (B)     Mendip Rail      192,510 EWS                  REPS (B)     Yeoman           13,996.80 Direct Rail Services REPS (I)     Various          1,633,500 Eddie Stobart        REPS (I)     Tesco            707,620 EWS                  REPS (I)     Various          2,914,480 Fastline             REPS (I)     Various          386,748 Freightliner         REPS (I)     Various          28,651,344 GB Railfreight       REPS (I)     Various          5,656,581 John G Russell       REPS (I)     Various          1,439,266 (Transport) Kuehne + Nagel       REPS (I)     Felixstowe to    1,422,883                                   Hams Hall

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The Department for Transport runs three schemes that facilitate the purchase of the environmental and social benefits that result from using rail or water transport instead of road. These are:

- Freight Facilities Grant (FFG): helps offset the capital cost of providing rail and water freight handling facilities.

- Rail Environmental Benefit Procurement (REPS (B) & REPS (I)): assists companies with the operating costs associated with running rail freight transport instead of road (where rail is more expensive than road).

- Waterborne Freight Grant scheme (WFG): assists companies with the operating costs, for up to three years, associated with running water freight transport instead of road (where water is more expensive than road).

2. The three freight grant schemes are open to new applications. Applications are prioritised in a bid round process and further details are available on the Department's website.

Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300 Department for Transport Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk

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