Network Rail has announced that it will offer discounted track access charges to train operators in an effort to encourage new business to the railway, particularly freight.

Network Rail has confirmed that the ‘relevant charges would be waived in full for six months whilst new traffic is being established’, and that this offer could be worth approximately £1,000 per train circulation depending upon the length and loading of the trains.

Network Rail’s statement raises a number of interesting questions.  

What types of service may benefit?

Network Rail’s statement explains that the discounts will target freight, but will also be open to ‘all train operators and types of service that meet the qualifying criteria’.

It will be interesting to see what other categories of ‘new business’ the scheme is intended to incentivise.

Qualifying criteria conditions

It will be interesting to see what conditions apply to the waiver offered.

-    Do operators need to commit to running services on the specified flows for a minimum duration beyond the discounted period?

-    Will the discount only apply on certain routes or at certain times of day?

Government policy: promises into action

Labour’s ‘Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways’ stated that ‘while rail may only represent a small proportion of overall transport emissions, it has the potential to play a large part in the solution to decarbonising our transport sector by attracting more people onto our railways and making greater use of rail freight'. 

This is a promising sign for the industry: an example of the government ‘moving fast and fixing things’, putting words into action and subsidising rail freight to encourage modal shift to greener forms of transport.

We await further detail regarding the scheme with interest.  

Article written by Lydia Cullimore and Sam Charkham