Rail campaigners are being urged to contact their MP in a bid to resist another onslaught by the road lobby.

Despite the public urging the Government to switch freight from road to rail, the road lobby wants even bigger lorries which will cause damage and danger as well as undermining rail freight.

MPs should be urged to support rail freight and to sign early day motion 506 opposing trials of super trucks.

The EDM has been proposed by Labour MP Jim Dobbin as a way of putting pressure on Secretary of State for Transport Ruth Kelly  to oppose super trucks (also known as LHVs).

The Department for Transport is currently reviewing whether to allow trials of super trucks, which range from 25.5 metres to 30 metres long with weights of 60 to 84 tonnes.
LHVs will lead to more lorries and more pollution as previous increases in lorry dimensions have lead to an increase in lorries driving around without a full load.

This is exactly the opposite of what the road said would happen. Since the last increase in maximum weights, average vehicle occupancy has been going down and over a quarter of lorries are running around empty.

Heavier lorries use more fuel and so the lack of any efficiency improvements has meant more carbon dioxide emissions as a result.

Rail freight has a much better environmental record. Intermodal rail freight and significant bulk flows could be switched to road if LHVs are approved.

Promises to restrict LHVs to dual-carriageways and motorways are simply gestures. In he past, these assurances have proved worthless. Road hauliers have a poor record in complying with existing road regulations. Police spot checks reveal high levels of law breaking.

Rail produces five times less in carbon emissions than the same tonne being moved on the roads. Energy efficiency is directly related to carbon dioxide emissions and rail is significantly more energy efficient than road. Rail freight is also up to 15 times better than road in terms of other noxious emissions.

Unwieldy longer, heavier lorries will cause extra road congestion.

But an average freight train removes 50 heavy lorries from our roads.

The public are opposed to these super trucks. Motorists already fear existing HGVs and would hate sharing the roads with LHVs.

An NOP poll in August 2007 found that 75% of people opposed LHVs and 80% wanted more rail freight instead.

Many HGVs are not following existing road regulations ranging from exceeding speed, weight and driving hours limits thus putting the public at extra risk.

On major non built-up single carriage roads, 76 per cent of articulated HGVs exceeded their 40 mph limit by 6mph on average, with 28 per cent exceeding the limit by more than 10 mph in 2005.

Detailed examination of rail’s bulk freight flows by rail freight operator EWS in May 2007 found that up to 40% of aggregates currently carried by rail could switch to road and almost 20% of metals traffic, if LHVs were allowed on the roads.

Promoters of super trucks are claiming these vehicles will be restricted to motorways, dual carriageways and major roads, but there is no mechanism to keep them to this.

The reality is that these vehicles will need local access to distribution hubs which would not be on motorways/dual carriageways, but on roads which are not unsuited to vehicles of this scale.

As happened with a previous concession of 44 tonne vehicles to railheads only – the restriction will not be enforced or enforceable.

DfT research showed that because of their size and weight, when heavy lorries are involved in accidents the level of injury tends to be higher. HGVs are twice as likely to be involved in fatal accidents as cars

There are concerns about braking distances, blind spots, manoeuvability especially on motorway roundabouts and reversing and overtaking. Even 18-metre bendy buses, which are 18 metres long, cause more than twice as many injuries as any other bus.

HGVs are up to 160,000 times more damaging to road surfaces than the average car. Some of the heaviest road repair costs are exclusively attributable to the heaviest vehicles.

Info from Philippa Edmunds Philippa at freightonrail.org.uk

More info www.freightonrail.org.uk