Steps towards net zero and their value for money
Following the Rail Minister’s challenge to eliminate diesel-only trains by 2040 and promote decarbonisation, the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce delivered its Final Report in July 2019 with five key recommendations.
One recommendation was: ‘There should be a detailed review of ways to incentivise a transition to lower carbon forms of traction, capital and major refurbishment works.’ This is what T1201 addresses.
The project researched existing and potential incentive mechanisms to drive coordinated and optimised whole-life emissions reduction across the rail industry.
To guide the Department for Transport in achieving its decarbonisation targets, RSSB identified and evaluated interventions that would promote the shift to lower-carbon traction, capital investments, and major refurbishment projects.
The emphasis was on interventions that minimised administrative and regulatory burdens and seamlessly integrated incentives into existing rail industry initiatives whenever possible.
The research yielded two outputs. These were a register of potential decarbonisation incentives and an evaluation of their effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions and their financial implications for public budgets.
This project identified a broad range of opportunities to help the GB railway accelerate its transition to net zero. It also provided insight on the associated value for money of these incentives.
The assessment indicated that all incentives could reduce carbon emissions by 5,199–479,313 tCO2e, which can be scaled up or down depending on the level of intervention. This equates to 0.5 m–51.7 m passenger journeys between London and Manchester.
Achieving the rail industry’s objective of reaching net zero by 2050 relies on decisions that extend beyond the scope of this project. And the potential carbon savings identified will need to be unlocked through other activities.