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<p>The Government supports the modal shift of freight from road to rail wherever possible
and would encourage supermarkets to consider carrying more of their goods by rail.
Rail freight customers, including supermarkets, increasingly view rail as a critical
part of their operations, and we hold regular meetings with representatives across
industry, including supermarket representatives, to understand the challenges and
opportunities of using rail freight as part of supply chain operations.</p><p> </p><p>The
Government continues to work closely alongside Network Rail (NR) and the rail freight
industry and have taken several urgent steps to enable rail freight to support resilient
supply chains. NR has increased the number of freight train paths available from key
ports, such as Felixstowe, and NR and the Freight Operating Companies are currently
running longer, heavier freight trains to increase capacity. The Government has also
increased the 2021/22 Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme budget by £500,000 to reduce
the number of HGV journeys by an additional 29,000. We will continue to work at pace
with NR and the rail freight industry to explore what steps can be taken to support
resilient supply chains and increase the number of rail freight services, the length
of trains and utilisation of existing services.</p><p> </p>
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