Aggregate Industries is planning 2.5 million HGV miles on Devon roads with the Straitgate Farm planning application, but elsewhere more aggregate is being moved by rail:
Because rail produces 90% less particulates and 15 times less NOx than trucks, which are key contributors to air pollution.
Rail freight additionally produces 76% less CO2 emissions than the equivalent HGV journey.
And rail freight is safer; HGVs have been six times more likely than cars to be involved in fatal collisions on urban roads over the past three years (based on the percentage of miles they represent).
