Rachael Everard
Director Sustainable Development, RSSB
Sustainability is widely and rightly championed within rail, with the ideal outcome of significantly reducing the environmental impact of the industry and at the same time reducing costs.
But for some, rail’s net zero transition appears heavy on capital expenditure and light on savings. And there is a perception that if these higher costs materialise, they will be passed on to passengers and freight customers.
Without visible benefits for users, the suggestion surfaces that the costs will outweigh the gains. But this perspective risks missing the bigger picture, stifling progress, and being caught out by legislative change.
At RSSB, we view sustainability not as an additional financial burden layered on to the industry but as a lens that sharpens decision-making.
When environmental, social, and governance factors are taken into account, emerging pressures can be identified and mitigated earlier, often more efficiently and cost-effectively.
Benefits of early action
That early action is frequently the difference between controlled investment and reactive spending under strain.
Electrification illustrates this dynamic well. Today, only around 40% of the network is electrified, yet expansion is widely recognised across industry and government as a long-term operational, environmental, and financial win.
Electric trains are cheaper to operate and maintain than diesel equivalents. They reduce fuel price volatility, lower mechanical complexity, and cut maintenance intensity.
The capital investment is significant, but so is the payoff.
This is precisely why the Climate Change Committee (CCC) continues to model pathways in which electrification delivers the dual benefits of emissions reduction and operational cost savings.
Requirement to change
Speaking at RSSB’s Sustainable Rail conference in November 2025, the CCC’s team leader for infrastructure, Louis Worthington, was clear: ‘Electrification is the route to decarbonise the rail industry in the UK.’
And, what’s more, decarbonising the railways is fairly soon not going to be a choice but a requirement. Worthington highlighted the Seventh Carbon Budget—the legally binding cap on UK greenhouse gas emissions for 2038–2042. The government must set it in law by the end of June 2026.
And the UK’s target of net zero by 2050 is already fixed in law. The CCC’s carbon budgets translate this long-term deadline into nearer-term constraints that shape funding, regulation, and procurement. Industries that plan early will be better positioned to avoid disruptive, last-minute adjustment.
Seen in this light, sustainability is fundamentally about financial risk management.
Yes, the returns may not always be immediate. But leadership has never been about the next control period alone.
By embedding sustainability into strategic thinking now—even where the benefits accrue over time—the industry can build a railway that is not only greener but more economically resilient.
For rail leaders, the question is not whether sustainability carries a cost; it’s whether the cost of inaction will prove far greater.