Rail reform will only succeed if freight succeeds

Having spent much of my career working with customers that depend on rail freight, I’ve seen first-hand the difference the railway can make when it delivers a reliable and competitive service. I’ve also seen how quickly customers look elsewhere when it doesn’t. That is why rail reform matters. The creation of Great British Railways (GBR) presents a genuine opportunity to build a more joined-up and accountable railway. Done well, it can support economic growth, attract investment and help Britain meet its environmental ambitions. But from a freight perspective, GBR will ultimately be judged on a simple question: does it make it easier for businesses to choose rail, or harder?

Much of the debate around reform has understandably focused on passengers. But the railway does far more than move people. Every day, rail freight helps build homes, support manufacturing, keep power stations supplied, connect ports to markets and keep businesses moving across the country. Many people rarely see the role freight plays in their daily lives. Trains deliver aviation fuel into Heathrow, helping keep planes flying and holidays possible. They move aggregates, cement and construction materials used to build homes, schools and major infrastructure projects. They carry containers from ports such as Felixstowe, Southampton and London Gateway into distribution centres serving communities across Britain. Behind countless products, projects and journeys is a freight train helping make them possible.

What is often overlooked in discussions about reform is that behind every freight train is a customer making a commercial decision. Those customers are deciding how to move their products, where to invest their capital and how to design their supply chains. In most cases, rail is not competing with another rail operator. It is competing with road. That is why network access matters so much.

Too often, train paths are viewed simply as slots in a timetable. For freight customers, they are much more than that. A train path is a commercial commitment. It is the train that gets aggregate to a construction project, fuel into Heathrow or containers off a ship and into a distribution centre. It sits behind customer contracts, investment decisions and long-term supply chain planning. Businesses invest millions of pounds in rail-connected terminals, production facilities, rolling stock and handling equipment because they believe the railway will provide reliable access to the network. That confidence is fundamental. Without it, investment becomes harder to justify.

The rail freight sector has been one of the railway’s great investment success stories. Freight operators, customers and investors have committed hundreds of millions of pounds to locomotives, wagons, terminals and technology without relying on taxpayer funding. At GB Railfreight alone, we are investing £150 million in a fleet of new Class 99 bi-mode locomotives. Across the sector, ports, construction companies and logistics businesses continue to back rail because they see it as an efficient and dependable route to market.

Those decisions are often made over decades, not years. Growth follows investment, and investment follows confidence. If customers believe they will have reliable long-term access to the network, they will invest. If they don’t, they won’t. It really is that simple. The construction sector provides a good example. Major building materials companies have invested heavily in rail-connected facilities in recent years because rail offers a reliable and sustainable way of serving customers across the country. Those investments support jobs, economic activity and housing growth. But they only make sense if freight operators and their customers have confidence that access to the network will remain dependable.

I’ve never had a customer tell me they use rail because they want to support the railway. They use it because it helps them run their business better. It allows them to move large volumes efficiently, reduce road mileage, improve sustainability and build supply chains they can rely on. Equally, customers rarely move traffic from rail to road because they suddenly prefer lorries. They move when reliability becomes unpredictable, disruption becomes too frequent or access to the network becomes more uncertain. Once a customer redesigns a supply chain around road haulage, winning that traffic back can take years, if it happens at all. That matters because traffic lost from rail is unlikely to disappear. More often, it ends up on already congested roads, increasing emissions, congestion and pressure on infrastructure.

Passenger services will always be important, but freight cannot be treated as an afterthought. The value of a train path should not be judged solely by the number of people travelling on a service. We should also recognise the wider economic value that service creates.

A commuter train supports communities and local economies. Equally, a freight train carrying aggregates may support the construction of thousands of homes. A container service linking a deep-sea port to an inland terminal can keep manufacturers supplied and supermarket shelves stocked. Freight trains carrying steel, fuels, biomass and consumer goods play a critical role in supporting economic activity across Britain.

The same principle applies when planning engineering work. Maintenance and renewals are essential, but so is understanding the impact on freight customers and the supply chains they support. When key freight routes are closed for prolonged periods, the consequences extend well beyond the railway. Construction projects can be delayed, ports can face congestion and manufacturers can struggle to receive critical materials. In many cases, the only practical alternative is to move more freight onto the road network.

None of this is an argument against reform. Quite the opposite. It is an argument for getting reform right. GBR has the opportunity to create a framework that gives freight customers, operators and investors confidence for the long term. That means recognising freight as an integral part of the railway, protecting fair access to the network, considering the needs of national supply chains when planning disruption and ensuring freight has a strong voice in strategic decision-making.

For decades, freight customers have invested their own money in the railway because they believed it could provide a competitive and reliable service. Reform should build on that success, not undermine it. Ultimately, customers do not care about governance structures or organisational charts. They care whether the railway can deliver for their business. If GBR creates the conditions for freight growth, investment and innovation, the whole country will benefit. Get it right and freight will continue to take lorries off the road, support industry and help grow the economy. Get it wrong and customers will look elsewhere.

That is why rail reform will only succeed if freight succeeds.

By Alex Kirk, Commercial Director, GB Railfreight and RFG Board Member.