The line graph illustrates how many million tonnes of goods were transported by road, water, rail and pipeline in the UK from 1980 to 2008.
Overall, the largest amount of goods was transported by road over the period given, whereas the least amount was delivered by pipeline. Furthermore, there was a growth in goods transport by pipeline the other categories, that also experienced an increase, showed a more fluctuating pattern.
Regarding road transport, it started at 70 million tonnes in 1980. From this year, it fluctuated (rising to 75 in 1984, 83 in 1996 and 90 in 2004, while falling to about 68 in 1988 and 78 in 2000) over the period given, reaching approximately 92 million tonnes in 2008.
Water and rail showed a similar pattern. Water transport started at just under 40 million tonnes. Although it increased dramatically from 1984, reaching about 68 million tonnes in 1988, it remained approximately unchanged and, after a slight decrease in 2004 (around 55), rose to about 65 million tonnes in 2008. Rail transport remained at 40 million tonnes in the first four-year period, then it went down gently to 30 million tonnes in 1992, after which the figure went up and down, ending at 42 in the last year.
In contrast, goods transported by pipeline had a slight growth throughout the period given. In 1980 it started at about 4 million tonnes reaching about 17 units in 1988. From this year, the growth was gentler, ending at just over 20 million tonnes in the final year.