only about 9% of freight in the UK is moved by rail

Statistics presented on this webpage show that little use is made of railways in the UK when it comes to moving freight, and that trucks have the lion's share, with water next (coastal shipping and major rivers - very little use these days is made of canals).  Pipelines for liquids rank at about 5%.  However, the proportion moved by rail has increased in the last 15 years or so from the levels in the 1990s that would please Steven Joyce.

There are of course significant geographical factors that account for this - the obvious one is that the UK is a relatively small area compared with countries such as America, Canada, Russia and so on, and many journeys are short haul by the standards in those countries. Secondly the railways network is predominately designed for passengers, as is the case in Europe generally.