Railway industry welcomes Government's new £300 million investment in greener travel

27 August 2019

The Government has announced that it will invest £300 million in UK innovation to develop cleaner, greener, transport. 

Richard Jones, RIA's Senior Technical & Innovation Manager, said: "The Railway Industry Association and our members will welcome this announcement, that UK transport innovators will be given £300 million to develop cleaner and greener forms of transport.

"The railways are leading the way in green technology. We are already the lowest carbon mass transport mode and there is much more still to come. 

"Electrification of the rail network will drive emissions down further with every mile delivered, the UK’s first prototype zero-emission hydrogen train is being developed and demonstrated currently, and the first solar-powered ancillary power scheme was recently announced by Network Rail. 

"RIA and member companies are also part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund programmes known as ‘Driving the Electric Revolution’ and the ‘Faraday Battery Challenge’, making best use of new technology across sectors. With continued co-operation and strategic support from the Government, the rail industry will maintain its leading position as one of the greenest modes of transport for people and goods."
 

Notes to Editors

  1. About the Government’s announcement – see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-accelerates-towards-greener-travel-with-new-300-million-investment 
  2. About RIA: The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the voice of the UK rail supply community. We help to grow a sustainable, high-performing, railway supply industry, and to export UK rail expertise and products. We promote and represent our members’ interests to policy makers, clients and other stakeholders in the UK and overseas. RIA has 240+ companies in membership in a sector that contributes £36 billion in economic growth and £11 billion in tax revenue each year, as well as employing 600,000 people—more than the workforce of Birmingham. It is also a growing industry with the number of rail journeys expected to double over the next 25 years and freight set to grow significantly too. RIA’s membership is active across the whole of railway supply, covering a diverse range of products and services and including both multi-national companies and SMEs (60% by number). RIA works to promote the importance of the rail system to UK plc, to help export UK expertise around the globe and to share best practice and innovation across the industry.