Skip to main content

Freight

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what volume of goods was transported within the UK by (a) road, (b) rail, (c) aeroplane and (d) waterway in each of the last five years. (220633)

The following table provides figures for the years 2002 to 2006, the latest years for which information is available for all modes.

Table 1: Domestic freight transport: by mode: 2002 to 2006

Goods lifted (million tonnes)

Water3

Road (GB)

Rail1(GB)

Aviation2 (UK)

Total (UK)

Of which: Inland waters (UK)

2002

1,734

87

0.055

139

49

2003

1,753

89

0.059

133

47

2004

1,863

1004

0.062

127

45

2005

1,868

1055

0.068

133

49

2006

1,936

108

0.068

126

51

1 Figures for rail are for financial years.

2 Domestic cargo handled at UK airports adjusted to eliminate double counting and excluding mail and passengers’ luggage.

3 Includes coastwise traffic and one port traffic (sea dredged aggregates and traffic with offshore installations) as well as inland waterway traffic. The component of this traffic using inland waterways is shown separately.

4 Break in the series, increase largely due to changes in coverage

5 Figures from 2005 onwards include some of the tonnes lifted by GB railfreight.

Sources:

Department for Transport, Office of Rail Regulation, Civil Aviation Authority