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The Department for Transport has announced funding of more than £132 million towards supporting rail freight.

Their aim is to improve freight infrastructure on four projects across the U.K and reduce dependency on road transport, eventually removing approximately 300,000 lorry journeys from the roads annually.

£80 million of funding is being awarded to enhance gauge and capacity for rail freight on the Peterborough to Nuneaton route, providing an alternative to the busy rail routes via London.

Almost £43 million is being provided to enhance the gauge on the key Southampton to Nuneaton corridor, which links one of the UK’s major ports with Birmingham, the North West and Scotland through the West Coast Main Line.

£8 million of funding has been awarded to increase capacity on the link between the Humber Ports and the East Coast Main Line, including to the power stations in the Aire and Trent Valleys.

£1.7 million is being provided to improve access between the West Coast Main Line and Liverpool Docks by reinstating a new section of track and enhancing the gauge on two rail routes.

Transport Minister Tom Harris said: “This improved infrastructure we are funding will make a significant contribution to reducing road congestion, carbon and environmental emissions, as well as supporting the future growth of our economy. In this way everyone wins.

“This funding is on top of the £65m the DfT announced earlier this year to support freight through upgrading infrastructure and securing greener ways of moving the nation’s goods. Together, these awards underline the Department’s commitment to improving the rail freight network in this country.”

All four schemes have been rated as delivering high value for money by the Department for Transport. Network Rail will start the construction of these projects in early 2008, enabling all schemes to be completed by 2011.

Despite increasing by over 8 pence per litre net since the beginning of September, the price of diesel, which has now broken the £1 a litre mark, looks set to continue rising causing misery for motorists. Unleaded petrol has risen by 5 pence per litre during the same period.

It is predicted that prices will continue their upward spiral at least until the start of 2008 as demand for heating oil puts added pressure on already stretched reserves.

According to Luke Bosdet, spokesman for the AA, diesel prices will rise again before they fall. “There is a hope that prices may come down after the New Year,” he said.

“But we are almost certain that they will remain above £1 a litre, and will probably rise again before then.”

Matters were made worse last month when the Chancellor imposed an extra 2p per litre increase in fuel duty on diesel.

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Further to our post last month regarding the installation of speed limiters in all fleet vehicles, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) have added their weight to the arguement in favour of the devices.

The Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA) systems, which have just completed 11 months of pilot testing by the Dept.of Transport, automatically reduce a vehicle’s speed via information from GPS and a database of speed limits. Whilst the driver can override the system, an event data recorder logs each time this happens. The systems can also reduce a vehicle’s speed in poor weather or at night, which could result in a dramatic cut in fatal crashes as high as 55%.

The report targets fleet drivers because btween a quarter and a third of all road traffic incidents invove at-work drivers. The report also indicates that employees who drive for work are 50% more likely to be involved in injury accidents than other drivers.

However, ACFO (The Fleet Operators Association) have hit out at the report’s recommendation. Chairman Julie Jenner said: “This whole issue of speed is not going to be fixed by fitting speed limiters to all company cars.

“While I accept that company owned vehicles use the roads more and are therefore more likely to be involved in accidents, it is the concept of inappropriate speed that is the cause. Most fleet drivers already feel they are a cash cow for the Government - to hit them with further legislation is the easier option.”

The Benefit in Kind Tax payable for private use of company vans changed on April 6th of this year when new scale charges were applied. Drivers of company vans will have to pay more tax under the new rules if using the vehicle for private mileage.

LCV Tax For Private Use - The Key Points

Until April 6 2007, the actual tax payable on a van up to four years old that was made available to an employee for private use was £110 a year for a 22% tax payer, or £200 a year for a 40% tax payer. This included fuel supplied by the employer for private use. For a van over four years old, the amounts were £77 and £140.

After April 6, the discount for older vans was removed and the amount on which tax is payable was increased to £3000. If the employer provides fuel for unrestricted private use, an additional fuel charge of £500 is to be applied.

Therefore, since April 6, the annual tax liability of a 22% tax payer has increased to £660 or £1200 for a 40% tax payer. Where fuel is also provided, this rises to £770 and £1400.

Fuel industry experts are calling on the government to reconsider the its stance over the recent increase on fuel duty.

The 2 pence per litre increase which came into effect on October 1st has pushed diesel and petrol comfortably above the £1 per litre mark at forecourts around the UK, sparking fears of another fuel protest.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said the move should have been deferred until the price of oil had fallen, and has urged gordon Brown to re-think his fuel policy.

The group is also requesting that the two further tax increases planned between now and April 2009 are also deferred.

Peter Brough, chairman of the PRA and M.D of manor Service Stations, said: “The current increase is very unfair on motorists and the industry alike. It will have a detrimental impact on the road haulage industry.

“We had asked publicly that the current increase be deferred. We still think this should be the case. And we’d like to see the next two planned fuel duty rises to also be deferred.”

The government has also been criticised by groups such as the AA, The Freight Transport association and The Road Haulage Association (RHA), whilst angry motorists have also been making their feelings known online.

At the time of writing, oil prices are trading at record highs of $83 a barrel and diesel prices in particular have risen by 6 pence per litre (net) since the end of August 2007 (including the 2ppl duty increase) and by over 10 ppl since the beginning of the year.