Rail campaigners have issued a "rail manifesto for the 21st century", challenging political parties to put rail firmly on the agenda in the run-up to the general election.
The manifesto from Railfuture brings together various pieces of research to show that:
Rail offers better value for money than any other transport investment.
Road freight uses over four times more energy than rail freight on average.
Transferring just 10% of road freight to rail would save £1billion of congestion costs per year.
"With facts like these, political parties have no excuse for ignoring rail," said Norman Bradbury, who helped compile the manifesto.
“We want a level playing field. Rail is penalised with taxes that airlines and roads do not have to pay, despite rail being one of the greenest forms of transport.
“Spending money on roads is largely self defeating because it just generates more traffic, and creates fewer jobs than rail investment.”
The document calls for urgent reform to fares policy to remove some of the restrictions and complicated rules that currently exist, and new routes to relieve congestion on existing routes which are full.
Download the manifesto from Rail manifesto 2010
Further information: Bruce Williamson, media spokesman
Tel: 0117 927 2954 Mobile: 07759 557389
media at railfuture.org.uk