It is worth restating at this point that if meaningful comparisons are to be made between modes they must be based on comparable tasks: broad modal aggregates are misleading. Given that caveat, and that this paper is based on a study of non-urban non-bulk freight movement in Australia, the following general conclusions can be drawn. For al longer distances (intercapital routes), railways have the capability to be significantly morel fuel efficient than small container ships or road transport, although in many cases there are insufficient data on loadings actually being achieved to determine whether this capability is being realised. For shorter distances and small train loads, rail becomes less fuel efficient than road. Fuel savings could therefore be achieved by transferring long distance freight from road and sea to rail and by transferring freight on lightly loaded branch lines from rail to road. However, the amount of fuel which could be saved is small (almost certainly less than on percent of Australia's total petroleum consumption, and this saving must be viewed in the perspective of other costs and benefits. (A)
Abstract