Network Rail has announced that every day during the coronavirus crisis, more than 14,000 tonnes of freight are being moved across the rail network in Scotland.
This equals 100,000 tonnes of goods each week that will help ensure that families in every part of Scotland continue to see supermarket shelves filled.
As Scotland does not have any deep-sea ports, it relies on cross-border freight services to keep its shops, pharmacies, and hospitals stocked.
More than seven thousand tonnes of products, including beans, bananas, pasta and other essentials, pass over the England-Scotland border every 24 hours.
Network Rail's priority is to keep vital supply routes, notably both the East and West Coast main lines, open.
Freight companies are looking at how they can run longer trains in order to get more containers per train to meet a forecast rise in demand over coming weeks and months.
What did the officials say?
Liam Sumpter, route director for Network Rail Scotland, said:
“While the country pulls together to reduce the spread of Coronavirus, our front-line ‘key workers' – including signallers, control room and track engineers, are working tirelessly to keep the railway running so that critical goods like food, fuel and medical supplies can continue to move across the country. It also means essential workers like carers, nurses and doctors can get to and from work.
“Running a safe and reliable railway is more important now than ever before. I'm proud of my team and the part they're playing in keeping the country moving.”
Maggie Simpson, director general of Rail Freight Group, said:
“The rail freight industry is working flat out to make sure essential supplies are available on supermarket shelves, that the lights stay on and that the warehouses have all the goods we need for online shopping.
“It is a real testament to all our staff, and those at Network Rail and across the railway for keeping up with changing demand and helping the whole of the UK in these difficult times.”
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Scotland has a deep water port at Greenock on the west coast and another at Grangemouth on the east coast with a mothballed ferry terminal at Rosyth.
It is simply cheaper for the mega container ships to dock in the south of Britain and have trains or smaller container ships bring the goods north.