Rail Supply Industry welcomes Decarbonisation Report

Today, the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce has published its final report on how the rail industry can help the UK decarbonise by 2050. The report can be found here.
 
Taskforce Member David Clarke, Technical Director of the Railway Industry Association (RIA) said: “The Railway Industry Association welcomes the report published today, which has been a superb, collaborative effort, bringing together thinking from across the industry on how we decarbonise our rail network.

“As the report shows, electrification must remain at the top of the hierarchy of options for the decarbonisation of our railways. It is therefore essential that we begin a rolling programme of electrification for intensively used routes, with alternative low-carbon traction options – like hydrogen and battery technology - used for lines where there would not be a business case for electrification.
 
“The rail supply chain looks forward to working with Government and our industry partners to move this report forward and to achieve a decarbonised rail network, for the benefit of all who use it.”

Notes to Editors

1. The Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce can be found here.
2. About the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Task Force: The Task Force’s mission is for the UK to have the world’s leading low-carbon railway by 2040, and to move UK rail to the lowest practicable carbon energy base by 2040, enabling the industry to be world leaders in developing and delivering low carbon transport solutions for rail. The Task Force also drafted the rail industry’s response to the Minister, including a route map to delivering the mission, which will embed delivery in business as usual – and to support the UK economy-wide target to be net carbon zero by 2050. The members of the Task Force are:
   • Malcolm Brown (Chair), Head of Asset Management Europe, AMP Capital 
   • David Clarke, Technical Director, Railway Industry Association
   • Gary Cooper, Director, Planning, Engineering, Operations, Rail Delivery Group
   • Shamit Gaiger, Programme Director, Sector Policy, RSSB
   • Mark Gaynor, Interim Director, Planning, Engineering, Operations, Rail Delivery Group
   • Tom Lee, Director of Standards, RSSB
   • Helen McCallister, Head of Strategic Planning (FNPO), System Operator, Network Rail
   • Maggie Simpson, Executive Director, Rail Freight Group
   • Paul Smart, COO, Freightliner, and on behalf of RDG Freight Group
   • Wendi Wheeler, Energy & Carbon Strategy Manager, Network Rail
   The secretariat is provided by:
   • Anthony Perret, Head of Sustainable Development, RSSB
   • Andrew Kluth (Technical Author), Lead carbon specialist, RSSB
   (NB Gary Cooper was a Task Force member until 15 February 2019, when he was replaced by Mark Gaynor as the RDG representative.  Shamit Gaiger was a Task Force member until 31 March 2019).
3. 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 280+ 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. www.riagb.org.uk