June 2020
DECARBONISING TRANSPORT SETTING THE CHALLENGE RESPONSE FROM THE RAILWAY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION (RIA) INTRODUCTION This submission constitutes the response from the Railway Industry Association (RIA) to the above call for evidence published on March 2020. BACKGROUND TO RIA 2.1
RIA is the trade association for UK-based suppliers to the UK and world-wide railways. It has over 300 companies in membership covering all aspects of rolling stock and infrastructure supply and covering a diverse range of products and services. As well as most of the larger, multi-national companies, 60% of RIA’s membership base is comprised of SMEs.
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The Oxford Economics 2018 report shows that the UK rail sector contributes annually over £36bn Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy, employs some 600,000 people and generates £11bn in tax revenues. For every £1 spent on rail, £2.20 of income is generated in the wider economy, meaning rail is not just an important sector in its own right, but it is also crucial for UK plc, its economy and connectivity. Rail has been a growing industry with the number of rail journeys expected to double in the next 25 years, along with significant growth in rail freight traffic, regardless of shocks such as the present Coronavirus crisis. The full report Oxford Economics report can be accessed here.
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RIA provides its members with extensive services, including: • Representation of the supply industry’s interests to Government, Network Rail (NR), TfL, HS2, ORR and other key stakeholders; • Providing opportunities for dialogue and networking between members, including several Special and Technical Interest Groups; • Supply chain improvement initiatives; • Provision of technical, commercial and political information every week; • Export promotional activity, through briefings, visits overseas, hosting inwards visits; and • Organising UK presence at exhibitions overseas.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY RIA welcome this Transport Decarbonisation Plan, in particular the work to develop a decarbonisation programme for the rail network that will inform the deployment of electrification and new technologies over the next 30 years, as well as making rail a more attractive option, so that more people choose this mode of travel. We would like to emphasise that even though rail is the transport mode with the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the UK, achieving full decarbonisation in rail can support significant emission reductions in other transport modes through modal shift, and if support for rail is neglected carbon targets will not be achieved.
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Rail, as the least carbon intensive mode of transport should, therefore, be at the heart of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan’s strategic priorities. RIA calls for immediate action to start the rail decarbonisation process with the knowledge that one tonne of carbon saved in 2020 translates into 30 tonnes saved by 2050. RIA’s key asks: • Restore confidence in public transport as the cleanest and greenest form of transport – working with rail suppliers to develop appropriate responses to the Coronavirus risks. • Invest for zero carbon: Support rail investment projects by bringing forward renewals from the planned peak in 2022/23 to 2020/21 and committing to accelerate projects within the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline. • Procure zero carbon: Include embodied carbon considerations in procurement specifications to leverage zero carbon rail fleet and infrastructure manufacturing and building capabilities. • Plan for zero carbon: Start a rolling programme of electrification now. • Support zero carbon innovation: Support early introduction of hydrogen and battery powered train fleets as part of wider UK place, innovation, technology, and export strategies. • Procure complementary technology: Support additional digital signalling cab and infrastructure fitment projects to prepare for CP7 and deliver additional passenger benefits. • Promote UK’s zero carbon rail expertise: Look for opportunities to support UK rail companies to develop and export zero carbon ideas and initiatives.
CONTEXT 3.1
Currently rail is the transport mode with the lowest GHG emissions in the UK. In 2018, GHG emissions from rail (passenger and freight) made up just 1.4% of the UK's domestic transport emissions. Rail potentially has a big part to play in decarbonisation of surface transport through modal shift. High-speed rail offers a viable replacement for some short-haul flights and long car journeys, and short distance commuter trains are irreplaceable for high capacity passenger transfer in urban areas. Shifting freight from road to rail, offers a 76% carbon reduction and the industry is innovating with “into the city” concepts, bringing light goods to city centres without the use of vans and trucks. This makes rail the only transport mode capable of moving both people and heavy goods using a zero-carbon solution.
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According to the National Travel Survey 2018, 61% of the trips and 77% of the miles travelled were by car, with rail coming second in distance covered (9%) for 2% of the trips. The same survey suggests that over half of these trips were for leisure purpose. This allows for the opportunity to shift some of those car journeys onto rail, saving a significant amount of GHG emissions, if rail can attract more people to the network.
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RIA has been actively lobbying and participating in various rail decarbonisation programmes, including: • In March 2019 RIA published the Electrification Cost Challenge Report demonstrating that electrification can and is being delivered cost effectively. • RIA was part of the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce and contributed to the report, published in July 2019. • RIA has contributed to and supported NR’s Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, to be published in Summer 2020. • RIA is a founding partner of the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN), a collaboration between academia and industry, aiming to provide a step-change in innovation in the sector and accelerate new technologies and products from research into market applications globally. 2/5
GOVERNMENT’S STRATEGIC PRIORITIES 4.1
Accelerating modal shift to public and active travel – the Government wants public transport and active travel to be the natural first choice for daily activities.
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According to the Office of Rail & Road (ORR), rail passenger journeys have been increasing steadily over the past 20 years, with over 88% increase since 1999. Nearly 1.8bn rail trips were made in 2019. The drop in rail use during the Coronavirus pandemic, the Government has reported rail journeys at only 5% of normal levels in April-May 2020, is temporary and the steady growth in rail usage will return. The Government also reported that there were 272.4mn passenger journeys made on the eight light rail and tram systems in England, a 1.9% increase compared with the previous year. Commuting, leisure, and shopping were the most common purposes of those trips.
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In 2017 a European Parliament study on passenger Night Trains revealed that this service had declined rapidly since around 2010. However, since then passenger led environmental awareness movements are bringing the sleeper trains back in service. Austrian rail operator OBB is expanding their sleeper services, known as Nightjet, with 13 brand new train sets to be operational in 2022-23, with other operators following suit. In May 2020 the European Commission launched a tender for the Pilot Project on the Revitalisation of Cross-border Night Trains, which aims to assess the main obstacles for the further development of night train and cross-border high speed rail passenger services in Europe.
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Encouraging modal shift from road to rail for everyday journeys, such as commuting, leisure and shopping, requires reliable and easily accessible rail services in cities and regions. This also allows for increase in active travel as people are more likely walk and cycle to rail station, given that there is appropriate infrastructure available. For that to happen investment in rail renewal and enhancement programmes need to be done in a timely and consistent manner.
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RIA asks: Restore confidence – support public transport as the cleanest and greenest form of transport – working with rail suppliers to develop appropriate responses to the Coronavirus risks. Invest in carbon zero – support rail investment and improvement projects by bringing forward renewals from the planned peak in 2022/23 to 2020/21 and commit to accelerating all projects within the Rail Network Enhancements.
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Decarbonisation of road vehicles – the Government wants to support the transition to zero emission road vehicles, invest in innovative technology developments across road transport and develop sustainable supply chains.
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The Oxford Economics 2018 report shows that out of around 600,000 jobs supported by rail, the UK railway supply industry creates 248,900 jobs. NR worked with around 4,000 suppliers during the 2018/19 financial year, and nearly 3,000 of these were SMEs. Innovative technology across the rail supply chain is supported by NR’s R&D programme, various innovation competitions, including First of a Kind (FOAK) funding and Small Business Research Initiatives (SBRIs), as well as UKRRIN activities.
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The rail supply chain includes infrastructure builders and contractors; maintenance and upgrade companies; rolling stock, systems, components, and raw materials manufacturers; universities and research centres; professional and support services; and notified, designated, and certification bodies. These businesses are very conscious of the importance of reducing their carbon footprint and pursue a number of initiatives to decrease embodied carbon.
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In 2016 the International Union of Railways (UIC) released a report on the Carbon Footprint of Railway Infrastructure, highlighting that currently available carbon footprint calculators, known 3/5
as Eco Tools, did not include the carbon content of the infrastructure. The report argued rail’s sustainability lead could be reinforced if such tools were available, and with civil engineering companies using green procurement to reduce carbon emissions generated from building railway infrastructure. 4.10
In the UK such tools are available via the RSSB, with the Rail Carbon Tool an online platform which enables the carbon footprint of UK rail projects to be calculated and analysed, and alternative low carbon materials and select low carbon solutions to be identified. This could put the UK rail industry in a leading position, internationally.
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RIA ask: Procure zero carbon – include embodied carbon considerations in procurement specifications to leverage zero carbon rail fleet, infrastructure manufacturing and building capabilities. Additionally, support more collaboration between rail and road innovative technology developments and research programmes, to encourage cross industry supply chain partnerships.
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Decarbonising how we get our goods – the Government wants to transform last-mile deliveries, optimise logistics efficiently and explore innovative solutions.
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There is an opportunity for rail to make a significant proportion of logistics genuinely ‘last-mile’ by bringing freight into city centres. Already the industry is piloting the use of commuter trains converted to carry light freight to deliver an “into the city” concept, bringing the goods to city centres without the use of vans and trucks.
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The ORR reported 152bn net tonnes of freight were moved by road in 2018, compared to 17bn net tonnes by rail, which means that only 8.9% of all goods were moved by rail in 2018. However, according to the Department for Transport Rail Freight Strategy 2016, rail can deliver 76% emission reductions for freight compared with road. There is a great opportunity to decarbonise the entire goods route delivery, not just the last mile, by shifting more freight onto rail if rail can be made a more attractive alternative.
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Ensuring fully electric rail freight routes will enable zero carbon freight goals, but this will require significantly more electrification, which is expected to be confirmed by the Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy later this year. In the meantime, existing electrification projects are coming to conclusion and no new work is being initiated. Commissioning some initial schemes would mitigate the risk of existing capability being lost before volumes increase again.
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RIA ask: Plan for zero carbon – continue the support rail decarbonisation and start a rolling programme of electrification now.
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Place based solutions for emission reduction – the Government wants to look at how and why emissions occur in specific locations, be it around a major airport, port, motorway junction, or within a city centre.
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In 2019 an RSSB managed cross-industry research project, which measured air pollutants (NO2 and particulate matter) inside and outside two enclosed railway stations (Edinburgh Waverley and London King’s Cross), found that NO2 and PM concentrations are greater inside the stations compared to the air outside and exceeds EU Limit Values. A similar project led by University of Birmingham and NR at Birmingham New Street found that the pollution is mostly due to emissions from diesel trains. The Decarbonisation Taskforce identified – in concurrence with then Rail Minister Jo Johnson’s announcement in February 2018 – that all diesel-only trains should be removed from the network by 2040, and remaining part-diesel trains removed completely by 2050. RIA is clear that decarbonisation will require a significant amount of electrification and zero carbon self-powered 4/5
trains (eg Battery, Hydrogen Fuel Cell) for those parts of the network where electrification is not appropriate. The industry had demonstrated its ability to offer credible new and upgraded solutions and fleet orders would stimulate a new industry sector, creating and retaining jobs and intellectual property in the UK whilst accelerating the decarbonisation of the network and supporting future exports. 4.19
In the meantime, there are many opportunities to benefit from improved energy efficiency and emissions performance by upgrading existing diesel-powered trains as part of a managed transition. Currently 25% of rail passenger vehicles and 90% of freight vehicles are diesel. Cleaner fuels, including bio-gas, hydrogen and zero carbon LPG are already available. For example, RIA member G-Volution is currently running two dual fuel trials; a Grand Central Class 180 with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and a Freight Locomotive with BIO LPG. These solutions should reduce fuel costs, particulate matter and CO2 emissions.
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A strategic plan with place-based thinking would include plans for hydrogen supply for rail and other uses and look for creative funding solutions to incentivise a zero-carbon transport system.
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RIA ask: Support zero carbon innovation – support early introduction of hydrogen and battery powered train fleets as part of wider UK place, innovation, technology, and export strategies.
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UK as a hub for green transport technology and innovation – the Government wants to look at transport innovations, such as digitalisation and making data available to empower customer choice.
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The zero-carbon agenda can be supported by investing in digital railway solutions, to upgrade existing signalling and control systems, and by increasing rail capacity and improving performance. The Network Rail Long Term Deployment Plan predicts up to three times the current volumes in CP7 to address the signalling renewal backlog. The supply chain needs to become ‘match fit’ for this challenge by building capability and demonstrating efficient delivery. The strategy to achieve this has been set out in the Sector Deal but it will require activity in CP6 to build up industry capability – if this is postponed there is the risk of capability being lost in the meantime.
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RIA ask: Procure complementary technology – support additional digital signalling cab and infrastructure fitment projects to prepare for CP7 and deliver additional passenger benefits.
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Reducing carbon in a global economy – the Government wants to harness the UK as a centre of expertise to drive low carbon innovation and travel behaviour.
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According to the Oxford Economics Report on the Economic Contribution of UK Rail 2018, the total amount of rail-related exports goods and services amounts to £800 million a year – investment in rail enables can help develop these goods and services to be exported to markets around the world. This is a significant opportunity, with the global rail market estimated to be worth €163bn and expected to grow by over 2% each year until 2023.
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RIA ask: Promote UK’s zero carbon rail expertise – look for opportunities to support UK rail companies to develop and export zero carbon ideas and initiatives.
If you would like further information, please contact RIA Technical & Policy Manager Milda Manomaityte at milda.manomaityte@riagb.org.uk, or call 020 7201 0777. 5/5