RIIG has been created with a specific focus:
To promote the investment, employment and environmental benefits of railfreight interchanges, delivering the success of such developments across mainland Europe To seek a more constructive approach by Government planning policy towards railfreight interchanges, to maximise the benefits to UK plc
RIIG brings together developers, end customers, the railfreight industry and environmental campaigners, to ensure a balanced debate on key concerns and possible solutions.
In summary…
How we can help
How Government can help(click on links for further information)
1. Reaffirm policy commitments to railfreight and interchanges During the last five years, the present Government has made strong and clear commitments to support railfreight and develop a national policy framework for major freight interchanges - we urge the Government to reaffirm these commitments and translate them into actions, in partnership with industry.
2. Deliver the national policy framework for interchanges In its Sustainable Distribution strategy, Government recognises that freight interchanges "represent major investments and have substantial environmental and wider implications, which can make it difficult to find acceptable new sites for development and which necessitate careful long-term planning, from a local and regional consensus, within a national framework. The Government has a crucial role to play in achieving a fair balance between conflicting interests". Government must now produce the national policy framework as promised, to enable regional and local authorities to appraise new interchange developments against a common set of criteria.
3. Secure suitable sites for new interchanges Industry wants to make significant investment in interchanges - not to then waste considerable sums of private or public money on abortive development costs and drawn-out planning inquiries. The policy aspirations of A New Deal for Transport, Sustainable Distribution, PPG13 and the SRA's strategy documents all note the need for the public sector to work with industry to identify and secure suitable sites for freight interchanges. We need Government to take a more proactive approach in setting the planning context, to ensure that the strategic importance of these unique sites are given proper weight during the planning application process.
4. Restore railfreight grants to support interchange development For the last thirty years, Government has provided grant support to railfreight projects, mainly for development of new freight interchanges, to reflect the overall environmental benefits of transferring freight from road to rail. Railfreight grants provide a valid means of supporting growth, and can sometimes mean the difference between interchange projects succeeding and failing, and we urge Government to modernise the grant rules to more effectively support the needs of industry.
5. Develop the network capability for railfreight Creating sufficient interchange capacity nationwide provides the opportunity to switch freight from road to rail, but investment also needs to be maintained to improve the wider network capability, in terms of train paths and loading gauge, to handle the volume and type of freight generated by the new interchanges. The current debate on investment in the rail network needs to give fair consideration to the needs of the freight industry, as well as those of the passenger business.
6. Promote European best practice in interchange development It is recognised that continental Europe is far more advanced in its approach to planning, developing and operating major freight interchanges than in Britain. We urge Government to liaise with the European Commission and other Member States, to identify and disseminate best practice from across Europe, to enable Britain to progress faster along the development curve for new interchanges.
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