The line graph illustrates the quantities of goods transported by four different means of transport in the United Kingdom between 1974 and 2002. Units are measured in million tonnes.
Overall, the data reveals road was consistently the dominant mode of freight transportation, while pipeline remained the least utilised method. Although water and rail carried comparable volumes (almost the same quantities) of freight initially, water subsequently (later) surpassed rail, emerging as the second-largest mode of transportation by 2002.
It is clear that, in 1974, approximately 70 million tonnes were carried by road. Despite some minor fluctuations, the figure eventually climbed to just below 100 million tonnes by the end of the period. Conversely, pipeline transport accounted for approximately 5 million tonnes in 1974. Although this figure increased steadily to around 30 million tonnes, it remained the lowest among the four methods of transport throughout the 28-year period.
The quantity of cargo carried by water and rail was around 40 million tonnes between 1974 and 1978. Rail transport then experienced a decline, followed by some fluctuations, before ending at about 40 million tonnes in 2002. In contrast, the figure for water transport rose slightly to just below 60 million tonnes and remained stable at this level for several years before dipping and then increasing to just over 60 million tonnes by 2002.