The line graph illustrates the quantity of goods transported in the UK by four different modes of transport: road, water, rail and pipeline from 1980 to 2008.
Overall, all types of transport experienced upward trends with fluctuations, though to varying degrees. Additionally, road remained the dominant mode throughout the period, while pipeline consistently recorded the lowest figures.
Focusing on the higher figures initially, road transport began at around 70 million tonnes in 1980, whereas water stood at approximately 38. The respective figures showed some fluctuation, with water rising to about 55 in 1988. Road then increased gradually, reaching 82 in 1996, before dipping slightly to 77 in 2000. It subsequently rose sharply to 90 in 2004 and ended at around 92 in 2008. Meanwhile, water remained relatively stable after 1988, falling slightly to 52 in 2004 before increasing significantly to 65 by the end of the period.
Turning to the remaining transport systems, rail started at 40 million tonnes in 1980 and remained unchanged in 1984, before declining to 35 in 1988 and 30 in 1992. It then recovered slightly to 37 in both 1996 and 2000, fell to 28 in 2004, and finally rose to 42 in 2008. As for pipeline, it began at around 5 million tonnes in 1980 and showed a steady increase throughout the period, reaching 20 in 2000 and ending at 24 in both 2004 and 2008.