The quantity of freight moved by water has been greater than that transported by rail in the UK for more than 24 years, a Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (Pacts) study has found. Its recent study compared the safety of transporting freight by rail, road and water, with rail by far being the safest mode of transporting cargo. The study highlighted how 206 billion tonne-kilometres of domestic freight were moved in the UK in 2024. Of that:168 billion tonne-kilometres was moved by road21 billion tonne-kilometres by water17 billion tonne-kilometres by railPacts said the relative proportions of these modes has remained stable since data comparisons began in 2000. The headline conclusion for Pacts was that on the basis of the weighting model it devised, road freight is at least 78 times more dangerous than rail freight.