An Investigation of Container Train ServiceProvision and Load Factors in Great Britain

摘要

The long-term growth in the volume of international trade poses considerable economic andsustainability challenges for freight transport, not least for the landward movement of deep seacontainers. Rail freight plays a major role in the inland transport of containers passing through themain British container ports, and potentially could play a more significant role in the future.However, there is little detailed understanding of the nature of this particular rail market, especiallyin terms its current operating efficiency. To improve knowledge in this area, the paper focusesspecifically on an analysis of container train service provision and load factors to/from the four mainports, based on a representative survey in 2007 of almost 600 container trains. The extent to whichthe existing capacity is utilised is presented, and scenarios by which the number of containers carriedcould be increased without requiring additional train service provision are modelled, to identify thetheoretical potential for greater rail volumes. Substantial existing spare capacity was evident, withconsiderable variability by port and rail freight operator. If all existing services were fully loaded, a38 per cent increase in container traffic by rail would result and if all services were operated with 24fully loaded standard wagons, there would be 65 per cent growth. Finally, the paper identifies thechallenges involved in achieving higher load factors, emphasising the importance both of widersupply chain considerations and government policy decision-making.