In the past five years, even in a time of recession, consumer rail freight has grown by 29%.
Capacity for consumers and freight would be released on the west coast mainline as a result of the new network.
P&O said it believed the move was "in the interests of fair competition and the long-term interests of consumers and freight customers who otherwise might have been faced with a dominant Eurotunnel in the cross-Channel market".
While the Games are expected to bring a £750m consumer spending boost, freight operators fear likely extra costs of delivering goods overnight could counteract the revenue generated from any Olympics-related deliveries.
Pharmaceutical companies also buttress high prices by choosing to sell a medicine by prescription, rather than over the counter, so that insurers cover a price tag that would be unacceptable to consumers paying full freight.
The end goal is to lay the groundwork for automated driving for use both by consumers and by freight shipping companies transporting goods along the corridor.
Foreign companies use U.S. factories to stay close to the consumer and save on freight costs.
Editor's note: Mark Foster is group chief executive of Accenture's Worldwide Products Group, which serves clients in the airline, automotive, consumer goods and services, freight and logistics, health and life sciences, industrial equipment, rail, retail and travel services industries.
"It's one more step in the evolution of vibrators to just another consumer product, unburdened of its freight of shame, sexual defect and sluttiness".
High unemployment meant that fewer people were driving to work, and a slump in consumer spending meant that less freight needed to be moved around the country.
