New funding designed to move the transportation of heavy freight off the roads will improve driving conditions between England and Scotland. Travellers driving from Scotland to England will find the roads much less busy after measures were introduced recently to move the forwarding of freight off the road and onto the railways. The main reason why freight forwarding companies are being encouraged to use the railways instead of the roads is the issue of congestion. Road congestion is getting worse in Scotland every year and this has a damaging effect on both the environment and people's quality of life. Congestion is one of the primary causes of increased journey times which leads to passenger frustration and stress. The Department for Transport and the FFG have contributed funds to help a number of major distributors forward freight between Coatbridge and Daventry by rail instead of by road. This is an attempt by the Scottish government to address the issue of congestion on the country's roads. The Department for Transport has also introduced a grant scheme to encourage freight forwarding companies to make the switch from road to rail transportation. The grant scheme gives financial support to freight forwarding companies who transport inter-modal containers by rail instead of by road. There are currently around two hundred and sixty lorries a week that use Scotland's busy roads to forward freight. The funding will help reduce the number of vehicles on the roads which will make life easier for holiday makers and business travellers. The Scottish government has said that it is committed to encouraging freight forwarders to use railways and waterways rather than roads to transport goods around the UK. Indeed, 60 million lorry miles have been removed from Scottish roads since 1999. Forwarding freight by rail and water instead of road also has environmental benefits. This combines with the need to reduce congestion to present a convincing case to freight forwarding companies about why they should move off the roads. |
