ABSTRACT
The chapter examines the data on infrastructure and freight transport by rail: freight lifted, freight moved and average length of haul. It explores the same for road transport and adds an analysis of the types of vehicles used and their productivity. The chapter looks at total transport, including by water and pipeline, with particular attention to modal shares. Freight activity is measured in terms of 'freight lifted' and 'freight moved'. 'Freight lifted' is the weight of goods picked up and carried; taking no account of the distance they are carried. In addition to trains and trucks, pipelines, ships, barges, planes and other special modes also move freight. On the scale of total freight, transport by rail is generally declining and transport by the other modes growing. In order to identify trends in the data, linear, quadratic or exponential trend curves are fitted by ordinary least squares to the full data series or a particular range.
