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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Tulyar15 [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by futuremodal One question regarding the makeup of freight. Since the Island is relatively small from a U.S. rail perspective (meaning U.S. railroad executives would say it's impossible for freight trains to make a profit 'cause it's all shorthaul 'cept for the Chunnel bound traffic), how much of the freight is domestic (in which I would include freight from the interior bound for export to a British port) and how much is Continental? [/quote] Most of the freight in the UK is domestic. Channel Tunnel freight is well below expectation, partly due to recent problems with asylum seekers trying to hitch a free ride on trains. But the French railways dont seem to have done much to encourage it either. EWS are now trying to get the class 66's approved for use in France so they can work trains there. (They're approved in most European countries where examples can be seen at work but not yet France!). The French seem to be dragging their feet though. Mr. Heller, the current head of EWS has said its a pity the chunnel doesnt go to Belgium! The Belgian Railways (SNCB) are more helpful and class 66's are already approved for operation there. Coal is still the no 1 freight commodity in Britain, much of it imported, though there are still a few mines in Scotland. Steel traffic is still healthy; despite recent plant closure Corus (formerly British Steel) is still the 5th largest steel maker in the world. Automotive traffic is booming too. When the chunnel first opened Rover and Fiat used the same haulage company to distribute their cars. This company subcontracted long haul moves to BR with the result that the carr flat wagons would run from Britain to Italy with Rovers and come back with Fiats! Much of the traffic passing through the Chunnel is bound for Italy; we do as much trade with them as with France and much more than with Germany. [/quote] Thanks for the information. The reason I ask about domestic freight volumes is that it is my belief that under open access "rejected" short haul opportunities (by a dominant rail carrier) would be picked up by a new upstart rail operator, rather than defaulting to highway movement. It's still just a theory of mine, and hard to compare the predictive value of the theory against the current British experience, but still worth the analysis.
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