Rail is the answer – not trucks

Great journalism, like we get particularly in this newspaper, is the art of explanation. As readers, we need to be told what’s happening, what it means and why we should care.

- KEVIN RITCHIE

Last Friday, the digital data media startup, The Outlier (disclaimer: the founders are former colleagues), published a fascinating chart showing the differential between freight that is transported by rail and cargo shipped by road.

It’s 6:1, the wrong way round: for every ton of freight that goes by rail, six tons go by truck.

It’s a horrific statistic. Running huge behemoths up and down our main arterial routes degrades the road networks faster than they can be repaired.

But potholes and crumbling verges are the least of our worries.