The line graphs illustrate the fluctuations in the tonnes of goods transported in the United Kingdom over a 28-year period from 1974 to 2002 by various modes of transportation.
Overall, the road network was a dominant source of transportation in the United Kingdom, while goods through the pipeline took up a negligible fraction of the transportation.
To begin with, the pipeline mode exhibited a gradual increase, starting from 3 million tonnes in 1974 and peaking at 21 million tonnes in 2002, with notable fluctuations especially during the 1980s. Specifically, the export of goods through the water route rose from 39 million tonnes in 1974 to 62 million tonnes in 2002, indicating a modest increase of 23 million tonnes, which was the second most popular mode of transportation. Furthermore,the rail network experienced a steady decline over the years, but showed the same result by the end of 2002, starting at 40 million tonnes, and dropping to 35 million tonnes, and finally reaching the same 40 million tonnes in 2002. In parallel, the road network experienced a more substantial rise, escalating from 70 million tonnes in 1974 to 99 million tonnes in 2002, which reflects an increase of 29 million tonnes.
To sum up, the road network maintained the highest goods transportation level, while water routes and rail networks followed similar upward trends.