UK: According to statistics published by the UK’s Office of Rail & Road on June 8, a total of 17∙2 billion net tonne-km of freight were moved on the national network in 2016-17, a 3% decrease on the year before and the lowest recorded since 1997-98 when a 16∙9 billion net tonne-km were moved.
Freight traffic had grown steadily from 1995-96 to peak at 22∙7 billion net tonne-km in 2013-14, mainly due to coal, but the recent decline driven by closure of coal-fired power stations means that it represented only 8% of total freight tonne-km in 2016-17.
The largest commodity group is now domestic intermodal, which in 2016-17 grew by 6% to reach 6∙8 billion net tonne-km. Also hitting a new record was construction, up 7% year-on-year at 4∙25 billion net tonne-km. Biomass, was down by 8% at 1∙7 billion net tonne-km, metals fell by 2% to reach 1∙5 billion net tonne-km, oil & petroleum was down 3% at 1∙1 billion net tonne-km and international down 9% at 0∙4 billion net tonne-km.
