Little engine who can't: rail faces an uphill struggle in boosting its share of the freight market

In January and February 1993, the amount of goods transported by rail freight fell in response to price increases. Rail freight is universally considered as a good thing, yet the government is not willing to subsidise it as it is too expensive. The industry has been in decline since 1955 and the reasons are that Britain is no longer dominated by heavy industry suitable for rail transport, it does not provide door-to-door delivery and only a narrow range of freight services are offered. A way of increasing rail freight may be to make roads comparitively more expensive by imposing toll charges.