Memorandum submitted by Network Rail
SUMMARY
— Rail is key to delivering a green economy
for the UK. It is a mode that allows people and goods to travel
en masse quickly, sustainably, easily and affordably.
— It carries a record 3.5 million passengers
(a 6.1% market share) and 1.4 million tonnes of freight a day
while contributing just 0.4% to the UK's domestic carbon dioxide
emissions (with road travel contributing nearly 20%).
— The average carbon dioxide emissions
for a passenger rail journey is about half that of an equivalent
car journey and about one-quarter of an equivalent journey by
air. Rail freight produces a 74% reduction in carbon emissions
over road freight.
— The amount of passengers and freight
carried on Britain railways is at record levels. Passenger numbers
have grown by 40% and freight levels by 50% in the last decade
alone.
— The drivers behind this growth will continue
in future with 30% growth in passenger numbers anticipated over
the next 10 years. Passenger and freight could possibly double
over the next 30 years and even triple in the longer term.
— With the introduction of new lower carbon
technologies, rail will become even faster, greener and more sustainable.
Network Rail, in partnership with rest of the industry, is committed
to range of measures to reduce our energy usage and improve environmental
performance further still.
— Government should actively favour rail
over other modes of transport where rail provides the best transport
solution. It should act now to introduce a low carbon transport
strategy which promotes sustainable economic growth based on a
commitment to long term investment in rail, including additional
capacity on the existing network, new high speed lines and further
electrification; the introduction of fair transport pricing structures
at a UK and EU level that reflect the climate impact of various
modes; and an integrated, whole journey approach that better integrates
rail with other low carbon modes.
RAIL'S
LOW CARBON
CREDENTIALS
1. Man made greenhouse gas emissions, particularly
carbon dioxide, are leading to a damaging warming of the Earth.
2. Government faces the twin challenge of
reducing carbon dioxide emissions, culminating in an 80% cut by
2050, while also supporting economic growth.
3. Rail can play a key role in delivering
a growing, green economy as a mode that allows people and goods
to travel en masse quickly, sustainably, easily and affordably.
Rail is the most sustainable mode of transport for long-distance
travel, for mass commuting and for freight.
4. The rail network carries 3.5 million
passengers a day, the highest ever (representing a 6.1% share
of the passenger market), while contributing less than half a
percent to the UK's domestic carbon dioxide emissions (with road
contributing just under 20%). Total rail CO2 emissions
are estimated at 3.3 million tonnes for 2006-07 of which 2.7 million
tonnes is from passenger rail and 0.6 million from freight rail[61].
5. Rail emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2),
the principal greenhouse gas contributing to climate change, are
also considerably less than aviation, car and road freight. The
average carbon dioxide emissions for a passenger rail journey
is about half that of an equivalent car journey and about one-quarter
of an equivalent journey by air (see below).
Figure 1
NORMALISED OPERATIONAL CARBON EMISSIONS BY
DIFFERENT MODES (UK)[62]
| Passenger Mode |
gCO2 per passenger km | Freight mode
| gCO2 per tonne km |
| National Rail | 61 | Rail
| 32 |
| Underground | 79 | HGVs
| 120 |
| Light rail / tram | 84 |
| |
| Cars | 140 |
| |
| Bus & Coach | 69 |
| |
| Air | 173 |
| |
6. Therefore, rail provides a lower carbon alternative
to road and air travel in many markets by providing quick, high
volume travel over short and long-distances on a dedicated network.
7. Shifting more existing and new journeys on to trains
from roads and the air in future will reduce the need for road
and air travel, thereby relieving traffic and airport congestion
and reducing pollution from these less sustainable transport modes.
FURTHER INVESTMENT
IN RAIL
8. Passenger numbers have increased by 40% and the amount
of freight carried has increased by 50% in the last decade alone.
9. As the drivers behind this growth continue in future—particularly
climate change, a growing economy and increasing road congestion—this
demand is set to carry on increasing.
10. Growth of 30% in passenger numbers is anticipated
over the next 10 years and passenger and freight demand could
double over the next 30 years and even triple in the longer term.
11. With the introduction of new lower carbon technology,
rail will become even faster, greener and more reliable and efficient.
Network Rail, in partnership with rest of the industry, is also
committed to range of measures to reduce our energy usage and
improve our environmental performance further still.
12. However, the rail industry will only be able to meet
this increasing passenger and freight demand while also further
reducing its impact on the climate if Government actively favours
rail over other modes as part of a transport strategy which promotes
sustainable economic growth.
13. We believe that Government should act now to implement
such a strategy based on:
— a long term commitment to invest in rail, including
new high speed lines and further electrification;
— the introduction of fair transport pricing structures
at a UK and EU level that reflect the climate impact of various
modes; and
— an integrated, whole journey approach that better
integrates rail with other low carbon modes.
14. On investment, Network Rail would like to see specific
government commitments to fund new high speed lines and further
electrification, which will deliver considerable carbon benefits
(as set out below). While railway projects require significant
levels of upfront funding, recent Network Rail reports on new
lines and electrification show that these investments more than
pay for themselves over time. But investment in these projects
must not be at the expense of sustaining the existing network,
as this is also critical to the economy and its sustainable development.
15. As a shorter term measure to move towards a fairer
carbon taxation system for transport we hope that the UK in particular,
and EU member states in general, will support reform of the EU
Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) on CO2 emissions. Reform
is necessary to ensure that all transport modes contribute fairly
and equally to a reduction CO2 emissions based on the
polluter pays principle.
16. This is not currently the case since railways are
unfairly affected by ETS compared to other transport modes, which
emit the majority of CO2, because the emissions trading
by the energy sector is passed on to the rail industry, which
relies so much on electricity to power its trains.
17. Electricity powers 80% of Europe's rail network and
40% of Britain's (and this is set to increase significantly with
the new £1.1 billion electrification programme and, hopefully,
further electrification in future).
18. While rail is burdened with a huge additional cost
(which could amount to an extra 500 million euros per year from
2013[63]), emissions
from the road and water sectors are not even included in the ETS
scheme while air receives a higher allocation of trading certificates
for free.
19. In the run up to the Copenhagen summit, we very much
hope that the UK Government will work with other member states
to compensate our sector for the consequences of the current design
of the ETS, in the short term, and address it through structural
reform of ETS in the longer term. This would help avoid unintended
consequences of encouraging uneconomic modal shift.
SPECIFIC LOW
CARBON RAIL
INVESTMENTS
New high speed lines
20. Network Rail very much welcomes the growing political
consensus on the need for more high speed rail in this country
and we hope this will lead to firm Government commitments and
timetables for delivering it.
21. In August this year, Network Rail published a new
lines study setting out options for a new high speed line. It
recommended a new high speed line connecting London with Birmingham,
Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh and highlighted the
substantial environmental as well as economic and social benefits
of doing so.
22. Network Rail found that this new line would reduce
road vehicle journeys 3.8m a year and flights by 2.8m (see page
58 of new lines strategic business case) a year by 2030, reducing
CO2 emissions annually by 39,000 tonnes and 250,000
tonnes respectively.
23. The study also found that this high speed line would
also generate revenue and benefits worth almost £55 billion,
paying for itself 1.8 times over.
A rolling programme of electrification
24. About 40% of the UK rail network (measured in track
miles) is currently electrified accounting for approximately 60%
of train miles (two thirds of the electrified network is equipped
with overhead lines, whilst the remainder of the system is predominantly
third rail). Of the total current carbon emissions from rail,
around 43% is electric and 57% is diesel[64].
25. This presents an opportunity for any extension of
the electrified network to convert more services to electric traction
than may have been expected.
26. This year the DfT announced a £1.1 billion programme
for Network Rail to electrify the Great Western Mainline and Chat
Moss line connecting Liverpool and Manchester.
27. Network Rail very much welcomes this announcement
but we believe it should mark the start of a rolling programme
of electrification, given the clear environmental benefits it
brings. In Particular, Network Rail would like to see the Government
commit to the electrification of the Midland Mainline.
28. Network Rail's recently published Electrification
Route Utilisation Strategy concludes that the electrification
of the Midland main line—the main route from London St Pancras
to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield—has an extremely attractive
business case and could, over the course of 60 years, pay for
itself with the savings made from cheaper running costs and maintenance
outweighing the initial investment to electrify the route.
29. Electrification will also allow rail to become the
only transport mode currently able to use renewable energy on
a large scale if the electricity can be generated from renewable
sources. In its Low Carbon Transition Plan, government has set
out plans to for the decarbonisation of power generation in the
UK. Thus in the foreseeable future the environmental benefits
of electrification will grow rapidly.
Manchester Hub
30. Manchester Hub is the collective name given to a
variety of schemes that, in the long term, could provide much
quicker, more reliable journeys with more capacity right across
the north of England. The step change in rail services this would
achieve would bring significant benefits including: a boost to
the economy of up to £16 billion and continued growth in
the number of people choosing to travel by rail.
31. Network Rail is working with industry partners and
stakeholders to identify the schemes that would deliver the benefits.
Each option will be assessed for the scale of benefits delivered
and whether they represent value for money. Network Rail will
then look to undertake schemes that meet these thresholds from
2014 and beyond.
32. Network Rail is looking at schemes on all the lines
that go through or to Manchester from across the North, including:
— Leeds and Sheffield across the Pennines, as well as
to the East Midlands.
— Liverpool and Preston to the west.
— Connections to cities elsewhere and to Manchester
Airport.
33. The objectives of the Manchester Hub project are:
— to make rail the preferable alternative to road for
passengers on key intercity and commuter routes across and around
the North; and
— to use the railways as a catalyst for sustainable
economic growth across the North by investing in existing network
capacity and reducing journey times.
34. Network Rail's study into how this can be achieved
in the medium to long terms will be complete in January 2010.
December 2009
61
Passenger statistics from Association of Train Operating Companies
and carbon dioxide contribution figures from the rail industry
submission to the Climate Change Committee from May 2008. Back
62
From DEFRA conversion factors 2009. Car statistic converted to
passenger km using Transport Statistic GB 2008 data Back
63
Study by Infras Zurich cited in a Joint Decleration by the Chairmen
of the European Railways on the Effects of the EU ETS on Railways,
September 2009 Back
64
Rail industry submission to the Climate Change Committee (May
2008) Back
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