{"id":31252,"date":"2024-04-26T17:59:34","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T07:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=51886"},"modified":"2024-04-26T17:59:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T07:59:34","slug":"go-for-good-now-not-perfect-net-zero-later-says-railfuture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=31252","title":{"rendered":"Go for good now, not perfect net-zero later, says Railfuture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waiting for the perfect solution to carbon emissions is the wrong strategy. Rail freight can deliver a good solution now, which is better overall, says Railfuture, the influential pressure group that promotes rail development in the UK. Railfuture is campaigning to get freight off road trucks and onto trains. They agree with the UK Government’s strategy on carbon reduction, but in a report, they say the government’s rail freight growth target will not achieve it.<\/strong>
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Railfuture says that mandating a modal shift to rail\u2014even if that means using diesel trains in the interim\u2014is worthwhile now and in the long term. Overall, carbon savings will be better, they say. The most cost-effective way to achieve net zero carbon from transport is to set a target of at least doubling rail freight in the next 20 years, thereby achieving a real modal shift from road to rail.<\/p>\n

Re-emphasis to maximise rail network utilisation<\/h2>\n

Describing itself as Britain\u2019s leading independent rail campaigning organisation, Railfuture has renewed its lobby for a modal shift to rail. The voluntary group, with 20,000 members, says rail remains the most environmentally sustainable form of transport, so a target of doubling freight transport by rail is the most cost-effective way to achieve net zero by 2050.<\/p>\n

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The overarching priority of the railway should be maximum utilisation of capacity, says Railfuture – even if that might mean prioritising freight patches over passenger ones. Image: \u00a9 HS2.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a somewhat controversial call, Railfuture says it may be necessary to give a higher priority to rail freight traffic. It has a clear message to the UK government, which has very specific targets for road improvement spending. Anecdotal evidence points to road improvements generating more road traffic. They say that there has to be a re-emphasis on maximising rail network utilisation and reducing congestion on the road network within current constraints on government spending.<\/p>\n

One tonne now worth three saved later<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe total of carbon emissions to 2050 is vitally important\u201d, says Owen O\u2019Neill, a director of Railfuture. \u201cA solution that saves one tonne per year now is worth as much as a ‘perfect’ solution that saves three tonnes from 2041. Rail freight is a proven, scalable solution that can literally deliver now.\u201d Railfuture argues that to achieve the Government-mandated targets of carbon reduction, the economics of rail and road freight must reflect a \u201clevel playing field\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Immediate solutions like the Positive Traction 08e electric shunter could provide carbon savings now rather than waiting for new solutions to present-day problems. Image: \u00a9 RailFreight Consulting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

O\u2019Neill says equality depends on ensuring that each mode carries the whole social and environmental costs for which it is responsible. \u201c[Those are] such as carbon, hospitalisation of road casualties and particulate air pollution\u201d, he says. \u201cThe balance has shifted towards the road. As fuel duty receipts fall with the introduction of electric vehicles and the amount of freight carried by foreign vehicles increases, some form of road pricing will be needed. The rail freight operators are ready to invest if they can be certain of stable costs, fair competition and rail network capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Priority should be given to freight over passenger rail<\/h2>\n

The Railfuture report<\/a> notes that the most intense freight and logistics activities are associated with ports, distribution centres, and quarries. \u201cIt is on these flows that growth can be achieved quickly,\u201d says O\u2019Neill. On some of these flows, where rail would be the cheapest option, the road is used because rail network capacity is insufficient. Gauge clearance is also needed on some routes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Targeted investment will be needed to resolve these rail network constraints, says Railfuture. For example at Ely<\/a> on the route between Felixstowe and the Midlands, Network Rail still plans to radically improve capacity. \u201cIn the short term, until that extra capacity is provided, priority should be given to freight over passenger rail traffic at such pinch points\u201d, concludes O\u2019Neill. \u201cIn any change of the rail industry structure, the needs of freight customers and operators must be prioritised, recognising that freight moves within national and global supply chains.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Waiting for the perfect solution to carbon emissions is the wrong strategy. Rail freight can deliver a good solution now, which is better overall, says Railfuture, the influential pressure group that promotes rail development in the UK. Railfuture is campaigning to get freight off road trucks and onto trains. They agree with the UK Government\u2019s\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1087,8386,7735,8387,78,5577,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ely","category-low-carbon","category-net-zero","category-owen-oneill","category-rail-freight","category-railfuture","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31252"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31266,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31252\/revisions\/31266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}