Band 5+: The graph below shows the quantities of goods transported in the UK between 1974 and 2002 by four different modes of transport. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The provided bar graph depicts the amount of goods transported in England by four distinct mediums of transport between 1974 and 2002, a period of 28 years. Over the given period, the goods moved from road, water and pipeline increased while rail remained constant.

Overall, roadways were the most popular ways to transport the goods while water and pipeline increased steadily.

It is clear from the graph that the largest ratio of material transported both in 1974 and 2002 was by road 70 million tonnes and 98 million tonnes respectively. On the other hand, the lowest both in 1974 and 2002 was by pipeline 2 million tonnes and 22 million tonnes respectively. The proportion of goods transported by water remained stable from 1974 to 1978, where it showed an exponential growth of almost 18 million tonnes in 1982.

The quantity of goods transported by railway remained constant between 30 to 40 million tonnes between 1974 to 2002. It is interesting to note that almost all the modes showed a decline in 1994 except for the pipeline which actually peaked in that year.