I agree re improving the present rail system. Larger capacity trains as per the trend in planes, better freight system to reduce road carriage. Why not hubs that centralise trailers, containers, then local companies deliver the final shorter distance? It would reduce the numbers of large lorries on the artery routes. Mail gets transported overnight and not real issues there. If really delivery is needed thwn ok, use the best method. Better scheduling of deliveries is not rocket science.
I think we are becoming obsessed with fast delivery and next day forces the transport to match. Unless it is URGENT then let it go with the flow. The fast deliveries are often unnecessary.
We used to send car rads to the Midlands assembly plants by road and often under JIT conditions. If a problem occurred then we sometimes sent special delivery ( a real pain due to poor scheduling and sudden changes in the plants.). Too many wanted no buffer stocks as it looked good. We tried to deliver the day before ......
Moving freight from road to rail is virtually impossible, in any meaningful way. Today's railway fits in freight where it can, passenger services take priority. So more freight capacity is needed.
One of the "reasons" for HS2 was to separate fast passenger traffic from slow freight. Unlike the old pre-Beeching system where most main line routes had 4, sometimes 6 lines and there were regular relief sidings where slow trains could be paused whilst the expresses went through, todays railway is mostly 2 track.
There were sidings at most large stations where freight was trans-shipped from rail to road for the last few miles.
Any one remember British Road Services?
Today those "goods yards" are all carparks, or have been sold off for housing development.
A further point: the modern system is mostly 2 tracks, with the additional tracks lifted because they were not needed: some main lines were reduced from 4 tracks to one....
Why, you ask, simply replace the old track?
Sadly, modern electronic signal systems and overhead electrification mean the space once occupied by the slow and relief lines has been lost.
So, the only solution is to build new tracks. They will be capable of higher speeds, but that is a side benefit.
The new lines will be built to the Continental loading Gauge, so container trailers can be carried. This is impossible on the old UK loading gauge system. Only one railway was built to this gauge, the Great Central. Beeching closed it.
In the South East, where the lines run at over capacity, leaving no time for maintenance resulting in delays, crowded trains and other horrors, serious consideration is being given to re-opening once closed lines, even though in some cases this will mean compulsory purchase of land, houses and industrial building that have been built over the track.
Bottom line:we need to invest in the railway network as we did in the road network in the 60s and 70s. This means £ trillions, not £ billions.
