5 minute read
Decarbonising transport: The case for railways
Jan-Andre Voelkel
Sustainable, eco-friendly growth remains a leading target for many South-East Asian economies. Rail plays a vital role in connecting communities and catering for increased mobility demands generated by economic growth, especially as countries rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailand is focused on the evolution of rail transport with an investment of more than 10 billion Euros in railway enhancements.
There remains a strong need to balance economic growth with sustainable environmental goals. For example, the target of many governments is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Transport is the only sector where emissions are still rising. On the eve of the Covid crisis, the transport sector was responsible for greenhouse gas emissions totalling more than 1 billion tonnes per year in Europe and 8 billion tonnes per year globally. Road transport, shipping and other means of transportation were responsible for the bulk of these emissions.
Rail stands out as an exception. While overall transport emissions in Europe have increased 29 per cent during the past three decades, rail emissions have fallen dramatically – despite rising passenger numbers and freight volumes. Freight moved by rail is nearly nine times less polluting than freight moved by road. Passenger journeys by rail also produce much lower emissions than equivalent journeys by other means of transport.
Rail has two key advantages in the race to deliver net zero emissions by 2050. First, we can work on optimising existing assets like track and trains without need for additional heavy investment in new assets, some of which have yet to even be designed. Second, rail operations are already heading towards zero emissions by default as electricity grids transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
With rail projects often spanning at least 20 years, it is of paramount importance to have the support of trusted partners and suppliers as well as skilled local teams to deploy safe, sustainable solutions for Thailand’s rail networks. These comprise new, emerging technologies for main lines and urban rail, and other key solutions including revenue collection systems, and integrated communications and supervision systems – with safety being a top priority.
During the past decade, Thales has been a long-term partner of the State Railways of Thailand (SRT), with most of the technologies originating from Germany – manufactured at Thales sole production plant for rail signalling products and solutions “made in Germany” according to the highest safety, quality and railway standards.
IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF MAIN LINES IN THAILAND
In 2015, SRT began implementing an Automated Train Protection system (ATP) to significantly improve the safety of its train operations. SRT selected the European Train Control System (ETCS) to be rolled out on a large scale across its network. As a state-of-theart signalling system with the widest functionality portfolio available, ETCS can fit into any railway environment and be installed on top of any underlying interlocking/signalling system. This has made it the ATP system of choice across the world. The ETCS systems of different suppliers are fully interoperable as long as they are both implemented according to the required standards; this allows rail operators to competitively work with different suppliers, while being assured of long-term reliability and independence.
Thales has been involved in the implementation of ETCS in Thailand since 2015, with close to 770 kilometres of SRT track and trackside equipment. More than 110 vehicles are already equipped, with onboard systems including trackside equipment, onboard systems as well as point machines and axle counters. Jan-Andre Voelkel Sales Manager Product Business Thales Deutschland GmbH.
MODERNISING URBAN RAIL TRANSPORTATION WITH DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
Thailand has bold ambitions to shift to digital payments, in line with changing consumer behaviour. Thales is supporting MRTA in its bid to facilitate seamless commuter journeys. Through co-operation between Thales and local partners, Krung Thai Bank (KTB) and Cybersource, millions of travellers are using contactless payments via their Visa or Mastercard bankcards on the Purple Line and Blue Line of Bangkok’s Metropolitan Rapid Transit system (MRT). Users can therefore bypass the entire queueing process at the ticketing machines and ticket office area, leading to smoother journeys. The use of digital technologies will open up endless possibilities on how rail operators can modernise while keeping the carbon footprint to a minimum.
In conclusion, the railway sector will need to expand its share of passenger and freight traffic dramatically in the coming years if net-zero emissions are to be achieved. Its ability to attract and absorb additional traffic is governed by three factors: (a) capacity; (b) attractiveness and (c) integration with other modes of transport, while also working closely with industry partners to constantly evolve its digital solutions to remain relevant and optimise its existing footprint.
Thales is looking forward to contributing to this next era of rail modernisation in Thailand, as we continue to work together with our Thai customers and partners.
Jan-Andre Voelkel, Sales Manager Product Business, Thales Deutschland GmbH.
Contact details:
Doungrat Punsupol, Key Account Manager – Ground Transportation System, Thales (Thailand) Ltd., Tel: +66 2 629 5600, ped.doungrat@thalesgroup.com, www.thalesgroup.com
