Where are we and what do we need to do next? Climate change increasingly dominates our news agenda – and for the rail industry, there is much discussion about how we best decarbonise the network. So what’s the current state of play for the industry and what do we need to do next?
First, it is important to note that 72% of passenger rail journeys already use electrified railways, but it is estimated by 2024 that the diesel and bi-mode passenger fleet will still be around 4,430 passenger vehicles (28% of the total fleet) plus some 750 diesel freight locomotives. Electrification is the most efficient way to operate an intensively used railway and for high speed, high intensity routes, it is the only way to decarbonise. However, we will never conventionally electrify the whole of the network and so will need other solutions to replace diesel on some lightly used routes. So, there is a real need to get this right.
When a number of electrification projects were curtailed in July 2017 due to cost and programme overruns, there was significant concern about the long term implications for reducing rail CO2 emissions. These cost overruns set the case for electrification back, but it is vital that we do not assume future projects will see the same issues as a few past ones, such as Great Western. In RIA’s [Railway Industry Association] view the root cause of the issues on Great Western was ‘boom and bust’; trying to accelerate into a major electrification programme after 20 years of very low activity. As our Electrification Cost Challenge Report showed, 75% of projects in the last five or so years were delivered cost efficiently and so problem projects like Great Western should not be used to estimate future costs. Drawing on evidence from RIA members and Network Rail, the report highlights lessons and best practice and demonstrates that electrification can and is being delivered at up to 50% less cost compared to past problem projects.