The Railway Industry Association has published a brand new plan which details how the railway in the North should be electrified.
The Railway Industry Association’s green plan aims to improve travel whilst supporting the decarbonisation of both rail freight and passenger lines across the North by electrifying the railway.
The publication is called ‘Greener, Faster, Better’ and is a long-term concept which would prioritise electrification as well as other low-carbon technologies including battery and hydrogen in order to remove diesel locomotives from the network.
Electric railways provide one of the greenest approaches for transport and brings further benefits such as faster speeds which in turn allows more services to run.
The plan is focused on the future, specifically 2050 and details which freight lines, intercity corridors and suburban networks should be top of the list for electrification as part of its strategy for the North. The plan reveals that the Midland Main Line and the TransPennine Route Upgrade would create the most decarbonisation benefits, both of which have been announced to be electrified as part of the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan. The Rail Industry Association has also recently called on the Government to give more clarity on its rail restructuring, enhancements, major projects, and long-term funding plans.
The plan also reveals that a number of connections between busy towns and cities in the North should be given ‘first priority, such as:
- Sheffield to Doncaster/Moorthorpe
- Manchester Victoria to Leeds via Bradford Interchange
- Northallerton to Saltburn via Middlesborough
- Manchester to Sheffield (Hope Valley)
- Leeds to Hull
Justin Moss, Chair of RIA North, said: “Rail will be essential for the UK to reach its Net Zero transport targets, as a clean form of mass transit. However, many of the North’s major freight and passenger routes continue to rely on diesel trains and critical connections between some of our largest cities are in need of major upgrades.
“Electrification is the solution to many of these challenges. That is why we have published a roadmap for how our railway network can be not only decarbonised through electrification but also deliver faster journey times. We also identify where other decarbonisation solutions such as battery and hydrogen trains will be most appropriate.
“Whilst we have seen some progress with commitments from the Government in the Integrated Rail Plan, these do not go far or fast enough to reach our climate targets. To ensure they can be delivered at good value to the taxpayer the industry needs a long-term programme of electrification work starting immediately, which would also help support thousands of green jobs in the sector and drive economic growth around the country.
“We look forward to continuing working with Transport for the North and our partners in government to build a world-class, Net Zero railway not just for the North of England but for the whole of the UK.”
Julie Carrier, Decarbonisation Lead at RIA North and co-author of the report, said: “We know the North has ambitious targets for Net Zero emissions from transport by 2040, and the railway industry is eager to play its part in this. Not only do we need to decarbonise our industry, but we need to increase the capacity of our railways to take even more passengers and freight through a pipeline of electrification projects.
“We hope that our proposals will help inform the debate about how the industry can deliver these, providing the greatest benefits to passengers and the North’s economy.”
The Electrification Route Prioritisation Plan was written by Railway Industry Associations North’s Decarbonisation working group, which consists of cross-industry experts, creating part of an ongoing engagement with partners in the supply chain, the Government, Transport for the North and Network Rail.
Responses
Click your fingers and hey presto! you have carbon free electricity. Shame that creating hydrogen also needs a lot of electricity and hydrogen is not practical for large scale operation anyway.
* which would prioritise electrification *
Plans, plans and more plans – aspirations or daydreams?
Harold Wilson had a ‘National Plan’ in the 1960s, the NHS had its own in the early years of this century, BR had a ‘modernisation plan’ in 1955 and let’s not forget HS2 and the [abandoned] plan to get trains to Yorkshire.
Oddly enough, inadequate funds seem to present recurring and largely insuperable problems . . .
If and when Leeds – York is under the wires,
then the other fantasies can be considered.
Hydrogen is the future of clean and efficiency, but electrifying is not really that green? It’s taking the energy from coal/oil power station is impact the environment than the hydrogen. The Nuclear power station will have to dispose radioactive waste somewhere.
But green hydrogen requires electricity to make it by electrolysing water so, whatever is used to generate the electricity, it’s actually better to use it directly to power the train rather than going through another step making hydrogen. Hydrogen might still make sense if the cost of putting up the overhead wires is not justified by the amount of traffic on a particular line, but I suspect it will be a niche solution.
Most electricity in the UK comes from gas, a tiny amount comes from coal and even less from oil. Nuclear and wind feature highly. As more storage comes on line then Green wind and solar energy will be stored for use at other times. For Green hydrogen you need Green electricity to make it. A mix of technologies will be required in order for the UK to meet its carbon commitments.