Jase Brooker
Head of Environment and Sustainability, GTR
If I had to put my finger on one of the biggest barriers to meaningful change, it would be our industry’s tendency to do it like this because That’s How We’ve Always Done It (THWADI).
And for a long time we struggled with what sustainability meant to us. It was this lack of clarity, I think, that for a long time prevented us from seeing any real progress on the subject.
Happily, though, there’s been a really positive shift with the publication and gradual adoption of RSSB’s Sustainable Rail Blueprint (the Blueprint). It’s clear to see that the drive to reduce emissions and increase social impact is gaining momentum.
Still, even with the clarity and drive the Blueprint has brought, THWADI is a huge barrier to achieving meaningful change.
Meaningful change
And right now, meaningful change is exactly what’s needed. We must develop a railway that meets the needs of the present without comprising the ability of the future railway to meet its own needs. To me, this means ensuring a resilient and seasonally agnostic railway—one that can operate within and despite the changing climate.
So, now’s the time to start thinking differently. We need to be open to exploring what’s previously been off-limits. And we need to bring everyone along on that journey.
We must commit to limiting the impact of climate change.
If we want to embed sustainability into our organisational practices, those who’re going to be delivering on those objectives must be included in the journey. Without that feeling of inclusion, people are going to be less inclined to buy into a change, and you’ll find yourself at the buffer stops rather more quickly than you wanted to.
Scaling up
But scaling this up to the industry level is what’s going to be game-changing. Already, the release and take-up of the Blueprint is the strongest example I’ve yet seen of industry-wide collaboration. We must continue to work together in this way to keep up the momentum we’ve already started to see.
That’s something I’m personally dedicated to. In using the Blueprint to inform Govia Thameslink Rail’s sustainability strategy, I’m really helping to embed an industry strategy. It’s something that we, other operators, and Network Rail can all use alongside each other. Because regardless of the historical ambiguity around the topic of sustainability, and regardless of industry’s sometimes archaic processes, it’s undeniable that climate change is already having an impact on our railway.
Whether it’s flooding or extreme heat, it has the potential to delay trains, disrupt the wider network, create challenging working environments for our people, and inconvenience our passengers.
The impact it has on the people we serve is real. And the fallout for our business is real, too. So, we need to make some real commitments—to coming together, to thinking in fresh new ways, and to opening our eyes to the new reality of our operational environment.
Because ultimately, the climate crisis doesn’t care what operator you are or what geographical location you’re in. We’re all in this together. And we have to keep working collaboratively to move the needle in the right direction.