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To support long-term strategic planning and investment in the UK rail freight sector, the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBR-TT) commissioned MDS Transmodal to produce detailed forecasts of future rail freight demand for the years 2040/41 and 2050/51. This analysis provides a scenario-based outlook on how evolving market conditions and policy decisions could shape the trajectory of rail freight over the coming decades.

This major study, carried out on a pro bono basis for MDST’s home city, used primary research techniques to establish any issues related to delivering goods into the historic city centre of Chester. The city has a very well-established pedestrianised zone, which means that deliveries of freight are banned in the city centre for most of the working day. The research highlighted some of the key issues that emerged, which mainly related to a lack of flexibility for logistics operators in making deliveries and a lack of choice for city centre residents for the collection of parcels using active modes of transport. The Report suggests some potential solutions and these are most likely to be a combination of minor, low-cost enhancements to the infrastructure for deliveries – such as well-designed loading bays and improved signage – allied with appropriate enforcement and more options for convenient parcel collections by city centre residents on foot or bicycle.