Lord Spellar
Main Page: Lord Spellar (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Spellar's debates with the Department for Transport
(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
It is a pleasure to hear from one of the many former Secretaries of State for Transport on the other side of the House. I confirm that the 75% will remain. There is no intention of setting a lower target. Of course, it has to be achieved over time, which he will know all about since he had a hand in the previous target.
Lord Spellar (Lab)
My Lords, as a mere previous Minister of State for Transport, might I put it to the Minister that 75% extremely challenging, given the very compact nature of England and the relatively short journeys that are entailed compared with many of our competitors?
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
I agree that 75% is quite challenging for the island of Great Britain. The economics of rail freight work much better over thousands of miles than over hundreds of miles. However, rail freight growing by 5% last year is evidence that it can be done. The market is segmented into a number of areas such as containers, aggregates and so forth, where progress can be made. This Government are determined to allow that to happen.