This morning's debate has been good, but transport of freight by rail is only feasible for long haul distances. Short-haul rail is not cost effective because people have to transport the goods to the rail head where they have to be handled, transported, handled again on arrival and transported from the railway to their destination. The costs involved can only be accommodated if there is a sufficiently long haul to make transport by rail competitive with road transport. Much as we might like to shift much of our goods traffic on to the rail network, that is impossible to achieve without heavy subsidies. There is no reason to subsidise when there is a very good haulage industry to cope with the traffic. We should preserve rail for long haul, but we need much more innovative management and thinking.