Planning permission for the rail freight terminal was originally refused by St Albans council in 2009.
BBC: Thousands sign St Albans rail freight terminal petition
Cathy Bolshaw, from Stop The Rail Freight Exchange group, called the decision "devastating for St Albans".
Rail use is projected to increase by 50% over the next decade, and rail freight by 80%.
Rail freight currently accounts for only 6% of all freight, mainly bulk coal, aggregates, waste and steel.
Eurotunnel is also planning to start its own rail freight service between Kent and continental Europe next year.
But not in the villages of Lockington and Hemington, which could have the rail freight interchange on their doorstep.
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The speed, flexibility and economy of road transport have caused a precipitous decline in rail freight across the world.
Local rail freight service was also being closed to help secure the area, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
Once the coal is offloaded, some will immediately be sent out via rail freight trains to the Drax power station.
Council leaders have threatened legal action against the government unless it looks again at plans for a rail freight depot in Hertfordshire.
BBC: St Albans council threatens legal action over rail depot
Aurizon Holdings Limited, formerly QR National Limited, is a rail freight operator.
The average speed of rail freight on this route, because of hold-ups at frontiers, customs inspections and the like, is barely 9mph.
Even so, American rail freight is among the cheapest in the world, costing less than half as much as in Japan or Europe.
The sooner other countries follow their example and base transport taxation on total costs, the sooner rail freight will be able to compete.
Council leaders have begun legal action against the government after it refused to look again at plans for a rail freight depot in Hertfordshire.
Thousands of Hertfordshire residents have asked the county council not to sell a former aerodrome near St Albans to build a rail freight terminal.
BBC: Thousands sign St Albans rail freight terminal petition
Reopening a planning inquiry for a rail freight terminal at a former aerodrome near St Albans is "appropriate and necessary", the council has said.
Almost 6, 000 have signed a Stop the Rail Freight Exchange (STRiFE) group petition, asking the authority to keep Radlett Airfield in Park Street from developers HelioSlough.
BBC: Thousands sign St Albans rail freight terminal petition
And in a report to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, the transport commission said ministers should not allow 44-tonners until rail freight considerations are taken into account.
The statement claims that, since 2010, Tashkent has systematically blocked the transit of rail freight into Tajikistan - vital for bringing fuel and food into the landlocked country.
North Carolina received money to start improving existing track and an agreement was signed with rail freight company Norfolk Southern Railways to start exploring a major high-speed rail corridor between Charlotte and Raleigh.
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Rail freight volumes also tell a rosier story.
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Much larger sums, however, will be needed if the railways are to meet the targets set in the government's ten-year transport plan of a 50% increase in rail passengers and an 80% increase in rail freight.
The Rail Freight Group says that to transfer 25% of all lorry loads over the next ten years would require about 1, 000 additional freight trains, together with a network of terminals around the country, plus substantial investment in rolling stock, locomotives and equipment.
Nevertheless, Pacific National's arrival as a tough, competitive rail-freight operator has put the trucking companies on their toes.
His next step was to integrate the rail-freight transport system with the ports.
In January, the French and Italian governments announced that they would revive a project for a rail-freight corridor between Lyons and Turin.
Rail-freight capacity will be more than doubled, from today's 20m tonnes a year to 52m, and passenger journeys shortened by 90 minutes.
The key to unlocking Europe's rail-freight potential lies in co-ordinating its Byzantine network of 30 national railways, each with its own standards, fare structure and regulations.
So serious are these hurdles that it takes six days for a rail-freight wagon to get to Milan from London, twice as long as a heavy lorry.
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