Editing Rail transport in Great Britain (section)

==Goods services==
{{main|Rail freight transport in Great Britain}}
[[File:Rail freight in the UK 1997-2016.png|thumb|Million tonnes of rail freight moved in the UK from 1983 to 2021 (annual rolling average). There was a large decrease in coal carried in 1984–5 due to the [[1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|miners' strike]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/8db1c1b2-1a53-4db1-8347-ce248a12abb5 |title=ORR: Freight lifted |access-date=29 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929135910/http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/8db1c1b2-1a53-4db1-8347-ce248a12abb5 |archive-date=29 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
[[File:Rail freight moved.png|thumb|Billion tonne-kilometres of rail freight moved in the UK from 1983 to 2019<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1456/freight-moved-table-137.xlsx|title=Archived copy|access-date=5 March 2020|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511125310/https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1456/freight-moved-table-137.xlsx|url-status=dead }}</ref>]]

There are four main [[Freight rail transport|goods]] operating companies in the UK, the largest of which is [[DB Cargo UK]] (formerly DB Schenker, formerly English Welsh & Scottish (EWS)). There are also several smaller independent operators including [[Mendip Rail]]. Types of freight carried include ''[[intermodal freight transport|intermodal]]'' – in essence containerised freight – and coal, metals, oil, and construction materials. The Beeching Cuts, in contrast to passenger services, greatly modernised the goods sector, replacing inefficient wagons with containerised regional hubs.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Rail freight in Britain: shaped by Beeching, despite his reputation|url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/17/rail-freight-britain-beeching-reputation|website = The Guardian|access-date = 21 July 2015|first = Gwyn|last = Topham|date = 17 March 2013|archive-date = 3 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150903211800/http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/17/rail-freight-britain-beeching-reputation|url-status = live}}</ref> Freight services had been in steady decline since the 1930s, initially because of the reduction in manufacturing and then road haulage's cost advantage in combination with higher wages.<ref name="amazonaws92119643">{{Cite web|url = http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.europa-nu.nl/ContentPages/92119643.pdf#page=65|title = Annexes to the Communication on the implementation of the railway infrastructure package Directives ('First Railway Package')|date = 11 May 2006|access-date = 21 July 2015|publisher = Council of the European Union|last = Ayet Puigarnau|first = Jordi|archive-date = 3 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150903211800/http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.europa-nu.nl/ContentPages/92119643.pdf#page=65|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title = Private and Public Enterprise in Europe: Energy, Telecommunications and Transport, 1830–1990|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mQ-f1IFo4IsC&q=freight|publisher = Cambridge University Press|date = 1 January 2005 |isbn = 9780521835244 }}</ref> Since 1995, however, the amount of [[freight]] carried on the railways has increased sharply due to increased reliability and competition, as well as international services.<ref name="amazonaws92119643" /><ref name="unece">{{Cite web|url = http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2008/wp5/GE1_Piraeus_Background_Woodburn.pdf#page=17|title = Container Train Operations Between Ports and Their Hinterlands: a UK Case Study|year = 2008|access-date = 21 July 2015|publisher = UN Economic Commission for Europe|last = Woodburn|first = Allan|archive-date = 15 December 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161215112827/http://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/doc/2008/wp5/GE1_Piraeus_Background_Woodburn.pdf#page=17|url-status = live}}</ref> In 2000, the [[Department for Transport]]'s ''Transport Ten Year Plan'' called for an 80% increase in rail freight.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 September 2000 |title=The Government's Ten Year Transport Plan |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/cr_thegovernmentstenyeartransportplan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518092908/http://www.devon.gov.uk/cr_thegovernmentstenyeartransportplan.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2015 |access-date=17 May 2015 |publisher=Government of the United Kingdom}}</ref>

Statistics on freight are specified in terms of the weight of freight lifted, and the ''net tonne kilometre'', being freight weight multiplied by distance carried. 116.6&nbsp;million tonnes of freight was lifted in the 2013–4 period, against 138&nbsp;million tonnes in 1986–7, a decrease of 16%.<ref name="gov12189">{{Cite web |title=2013–14 Quarter 4 Statistical Release – Freight Rail Usage |website=Office of Rail Regulation |url=http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/12189/freight-rail-usage-2013-14-q4.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/12189/freight-rail-usage-2013-14-q4.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |access-date = 21 July 2015 |date = 22 May 2014}}</ref> However, a record 22.7&nbsp;billion net tonne kilometres (14&nbsp;billion net ton miles) of freight movement were recorded in 2013–4, against 16.6&nbsp;billion (10.1&nbsp;billion) in 1986–7, an increase of 38%.<ref name="gov12189" /> Coal made up 36% of the total ''net tonne kilometre'', though its share was declining.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Rail trends factsheet, Great Britain: 2014 – Publications – Government of the United Kingdom|url = https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-factsheet-great-britain-2014|publisher = Government of the United Kingdom|access-date = 21 July 2015|date = 15 October 2014|archive-date = 3 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150903211800/https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rail-trends-factsheet-great-britain-2014|url-status = live}}</ref> Rail freight had increased its market share since privatisation (by net tonne kilometres) from 7.4% in 1998 to 11.1% in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Display Report |website = Office of Rail and Road – National Rail Trends Portal |url = http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/a2935b59-142f-4037-bf58-92b5d9388932 |access-date = 21 July 2015 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150903211800/http://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/a2935b59-142f-4037-bf58-92b5d9388932 |archive-date = 3 September 2015 |url-status = dead }}</ref> Growth was partly due to more international services including the Channel Tunnel and [[Port of Felixstowe]], which is containerised.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/17972/freight-rail-usage-2014-15-q4.pdf|title = Freight Rail Usage 2014–15 Quarter 4 Statistical Release|date = 21 May 2015|access-date = 21 July 2015|publisher = Office of Rail and Road|last = Amusan|first = Folusho|archive-date = 4 March 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304092030/http://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/17972/freight-rail-usage-2014-15-q4.pdf|url-status = live}}</ref> Nevertheless, as of 2008, network bottlenecks and insufficient investment in catering for 9' 6" high shipping containers restricted growth.<ref name="unece" />

A symbolic loss to the rail freight industry in Great Britain was the custom of the [[Royal Mail]], which from 2004 discontinued use of its 49-train fleet, and switched to road haulage after a near 170-year-preference for trains. [[Travelling Post Office|Mail trains]] had long been part of the tradition of the railways in Great Britain, famously celebrated in the film ''[[Night Mail]]'', for which [[W. H. Auden]] wrote the poem of the same name. Although Royal Mail suspended mail trains in January 2004, this decision was reversed in December of the same year, and [[British Rail Class 325|Class 325s]] are now used on some routes including between London, [[Warrington]] and Scotland.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}