The end of diesel?
Rail Minister wants diesel-free railway by 2040, but campaigners fear it will hit investment in the freight sector.
FREIGHT campaigners have warned of the impact of Government aspirations to remove diesel-only trains from the national network by 2040, saying it could damage the case for freight sector investment.
In a speech at the British Museum on February 12, Rail Minister Jo Johnson said: “I would like to see us take all diesel-only trains off the track by 2040.
“We are making progress on modernising rolling stock. For example, the much-derided Pacers are going, along with other long- standing members of the fleet like InterCity 125s. Old diesels are being replaced by much cleaner trains featuring low-carbon and NOx technology.
“But we need to go further. By decarbonising rail, we’ll reduce pollutants and improve air quality, particularly in our semi-enclosed stations.”
Johnson said total electrification was “unlikely” to be the only or most cost-effective way to secure environmental benefits. He added: “New bi-modes trains are a great bridging technology to other lowemission futures.”
He said Hitachi’s new Intercity Express Trains on Great Western Railway “are less polluting than the trains they replaced”, and that Government expects to see diesel engines in bi-mode units replaced by batteries in the longer term as the technology improves.
“Or maybe in the future we could see those batteries and diesel engines replaced with hydrogen units? Alternative-fuel trains powered entirely by hydrogen are a prize on the horizon. I’d like to see hydrogen train trials on the UK railway as soon as possible. Hydrogen offers an affordable - and potentially much cleaner - alternative to diesel.”
Rail Freight Group Executive Director Maggie Simpson said: “Rail freight is acknowledged for its superior environmental
performance and the Rail Minister is right to challenge the industry on how that can be further improved.
“Yet while battery and hydrogen may show promise for lightweight passenger trains, their application for heavy duty freight is at best unproven, and setting an arbitrary deadline of 2040 could well therefore be counterproductive, damaging the case for investment in our sector.”
Simpson said the RFG would like to see continued affordable electrification on the network, and the current retrofit grants for buses and other road vehicles to be extended to the railways.
Direct Rail Services has put ten dual-mode Class 88s into traffic in the past year, but these remain the only non-diesel locomotives ordered by FOCs since privatisation, and the first for freight since Class 92s were delivered in 1993-96.
While many recent train operating company orders include electric or bi-mode multiple units, Northern has 55 Class 195 diesel multiple units on order from CAF ( RAIL 846), while West Midlands Trains has 26 DMUs on order from the same manufacturer.
Their expected lifespan suggests that these trains would require modifications to continue running if Johnson’s 2040 wish comes true. Eversholt Rail, which owns the ‘195s’, told RAIL last month that the DMUs could be converted to bi-mode operation ( RAIL 846).
Both the Department for Transport and Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling have spoken previously about hydrogenpowered trains, with Alstom building examples for Germany ( RAIL 845) and announcing plans to test a train in the UK in 201920. However, no routes have yet been confirmed.
Johnson said: “Rail may be less carbon intensive than road transport. That’s why modal shift’s so important. Getting freight and passenger vehicles off the roads onto greener forms of transport.”
He said that Northern has been tasked with delivering an electric/ battery hybrid for the Windermere branch from 2021, but added: “The drive to decarbonise must come from all sectors of the industry. So today I am calling on the railway to provide a vision for how it will decarbonise. And I expect the industry to report back by the autumn. I want to see a clear, long-term strategy with consistent objectives and incentives.
“I want to see options like lighter rolling stock and alternative sources of power considered and analysed.”