- As part of Railway 200, freight trains carry more than 1 billion tonnes of goods to prepare for festive period, including millions of Christmas decorations, trees, presents, food and bottles of wine
- A freight train can carry as much as 129 HGVs, so the railway is helping to cut traffic jams in the run up to the festivities and deliver a greener Christmas
New figures reveal that rail freight is playing an even bigger role in 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, wrapping paper, trees, toys and wine to shops around the country. About a third of Tesco’s Christmas range will reach the shelves by rail freight.
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 per cent respectively since last year.
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.
Richard Moody, Programme Director at Network Rail, said:
“Rail freight companies are delighted to play a central role in delivering Christmas cheer during rail’s bicentenary year, ensuring families have everything they need to celebrate in style. With only a fraction of the emissions compared to road haulage, every tree, pudding and toy transported by rail helps to make a green Christmas.
“Many 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’s not-so-little helpers.”
A freight train can carry as much cargo as 129 heavy goods vehicles with only a fraction of the emissions, helping to tackle the climate emergency and reduce traffic jams.
Ben Smith, Head of primary, global and rail logistics at Tesco, added:
“Our distribution network plays a vital role in our efforts to become carbon neutral in our own operations by 2035. Moving more than 30 per cent 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.”
Railway 200 is a national celebration of 200 years of the modern railway, inspired by the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825, a journey that changed the world forever. The origins of the railway came even earlier and were built on carrying cargo, with horses pulling coal in wooden wagons.