Rail Freight

Operations
When British Rail was privatised in the mid-1990s the ownership of the track and infrastructure passed to Railtrack, the passenger operations were franchised to individual private sector operators and the freight services were sold outright to private companies.
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Who uses rail freight?
Rail freight services are used by a very varied group of customers and they transport a wide variety of products and commodities.
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Why use rail freight?
Rail freight offers many commercial advantages to its customers, including reliability, speed and cost-effectiveness. It also benefits society as a whole by reducing harmful emissions and congestion, providing high quality jobs, and helping many regions of the UK to prosper.
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Facts & Figures
Rail freight is vital to Britain’s economic success. It contributes £870m to the economy and plays a big part in reducing congestion and carbon emissions.
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