Call for more north businesses to switch from A9 to railway freight

minister wants to reduce by 400 the number of wagons using the notorious road link

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Traffic on the A9 could be significantly reduced if more Highland businesses used a new rail freight service to transport goods to the central belt, it was claimed yesterday.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson wants to reduce by 400 the number of wagons using the notorious Inverness-Perth link every week and to encourage more firms to use the rail network.

Supermarket giant Tesco transports about 55% of its goods to the Highlands by rail from Grangemouth, claiming to save about 13,000 lorry journeys each year.

And, at the official opening of the Inverness rail freight interchange at Needlefield Yard at the Longman Industrial Estate yesterday, it emerged that talks are under way to extend the service to Aberdeen, with Tesco hoping to take more lorries off the A90 road between Dundee and the Granite City.

It is understood that Fochabers-based Baxters Food Group has also begun using the service to transport goods south.

Mr Stevenson hopes to encourage more north businesses to use the service, reducing traffic on the A9 and addressing climate-change concerns.

He said: “Now we have the current service in place, there is an opportunity for small business to put relatively small numbers of containers on the trains, and that’s almost as important as the move that’s been made by Tesco.”

Tesco currently fills about half its containers with recyclable waste for transport back to the central belt – Mr Stevenson said the remainder could be filled by local companies.

City provost Jimmy Gray said: “What they need to do now is take some other businesses off the roads, getting some business going down the way like whisky distillers and food manufacturers.”

Mr Stevenson said the Scottish Government planned to increase dualling of the rail track to Inverness and to alter signalling benefit freight trains. And he revealed hopes the scheme could be extended to the far north.