Professor Alan McKinnon:

Looking at the link between regional development and decarbonisation of freight, if we are talking about a peripheral region then the length of haul will be greater; therefore it might make it more competitive for the rail industry to capture that traffic. It depends on the nature of the industrial development in the peripheral region. What are the products being produced and distributed from there? It is clear the railways have an advantage in the moved primary commodities, which are the lower value things. It is hard to generalise about that. People often think there is a conflict between the desire to cut carbon emissions from an economy and promoting regional development because the thinking is we should try to shorten the distances over which freight is moved. That does not necessarily apply. If one can use a lower carbon transport mode, then that is certainly beneficial. Through time, the carbon intensity of freight transport will reduce. Carbon emissions per vehicle-kilometre, per tonne-kilometre will decline and therefore the carbon penalty associated with developing industry in a peripheral region will reduce as well. It is hoped the two objectives of regional development and decarbonisation will ultimately be compatible. They are some of my general thoughts in response to the member's question.