The Railway Industry Association (RIA) has reviewed all the commitments made in the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) and found that insufficient progress is being made on its key UK rail decarbonisation commitments.
The Transport Decarbonisation Plan that was published nearly two years ago set out how Net Zero carbon would be achieved by the Transport sector by 2050.
The Railway Industry Association has reviewed all the commitments made in the plan, measured them against public announcements up to last month, and rated each commitment as red (commitments not met), amber (commitment partially met), or green (commitment met).
Out of the 45 commitments that were made across six different methods of transport, four were rated red, 12 amber and 29 green.
In terms of decarbonising the rail sector, the report shows that the Government is making significantly less progress than in other transport modes.
Out of eight commitments for rail, three were rated red and five were rated amber, none were rated green. Compared with other methods of transport rail shows a start difference, as the six commitments for buses and coaches, for example, were all rated green.
The Railway Industry Association launched its RailDecarb23 campaign, and the audit is part of that campaign, which urges the Government to accelerate plans for rail decarbonisation.
This is envisaged to be through a rolling programme of electrification, and investment in new traction methods such as hydrogen and battery power. It also looks for the Government, rail clients, and suppliers, to work together when building a railway network to look at ways in which carbon can be reduced.
Commenting, RIA’s Chief Executive, Darren Caplan, said “The Railway Industry Association’s analysis of the Government’s ‘Transport Decarbonisation Plan’ published exactly two years reveals a concerning picture when it comes to rail decarbonisation.
“All the TDP commitments – which RIA welcomed when they were published nearly two years ago – need to be achieved if the Government is to hit Net Zero transport by 2050. The fact that the rate of rail decarbonisation lags behind other methods of transport by some distance jeopardises the whole decarbonisation plan.
“This report will of course be of particular concern to the rail supply chain. The industry needs certainty and clarity on the commitments required to achieve Net Zero, in order to invest in the green technologies required and cut carbon emissions; at present, there seems to be neither.
“Alongside the environmental impact, this lack of progress means rail passengers will also not be able to benefit from the more efficient and modernised rail services that come with decarbonisation.
“It’s not too late for the Government to put its foot on the pedal and deliver on rail decarbonisation. As RIA has set out through our RailDecarb23 campaign, we need to see a rolling programme of electrification, investment in hydrogen and battery trains and steps to reduce carbon when building the railway network, to both deliver on the TDP and to enhance the experience for rail passengers”.
Responses
This is utterly irrelevant, for two reasons; first, the chance of the whole of the UK achieving Net Zero by 2050 is zero. We lack both generating and grid capacity to cover the huge increase in current demand – 24/7/365 – by the millions of EV chargers, and for replacing gas. We also lack the skilled staff to build it all and the money (thanks to the government’s spending through lockdown), nor are there ANY practical plans to provide EV charging for the 40% of all households which have NO secure off-street parking for home chargers.
Secondly, even if we were to achieve Net Zero by 2050, reducing global man-made CO2 emissions by about 1%, that ‘saving’ would be wiped out in little more than a year by China and India, who between them open three new coal-fired power stations per WEEK. Net Zero is pure political Pie in the Sky; in all practical terms it’s engineering and economic lunacy.
For a start, bidirectional charging and massive increases in domestic rooftop solar mean that cars will be a source of electricity during peak hours, and will be charged from the grid largely during off-peak periods. The 40% of homes is an issue, but I’m pretty sure that by 2050 the block of flats where I live will have cracked it. As for replacing gas, well, that’s more of a challenge, but by 2050 the massive investments in offshore wind, nuclear and solar will have largely kicked in. And finally, China and and India are MASSIVELY increasing their investment in renewables, so you are correct that the world won’t be net zero by 2050, but we’ll all be heading the the same direction by then. And just look at the progress India has made over the past few years in electrifying the vast majority of its railway network.