Calls for high-speed rail to play key decarbonisation role

The High Speed Rail Group wants the Government to commit to decarbonising the rail network by 2040, in order for the UK to meet its net zero target by 2050.

It says that “transformative investment” is required to build a national high-speed rail network, if rail is to become the mode of choice for long-distance travellers.

Responding to the Department for Transport’s Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge consultation, HSRG points to the creation of a national high-speed rail spine, consisting of dedicated high-speed lines integrated with “upgraded, electrified and digitally signalled lines” reaching all major cities.

This would start with the extension of HS2 to Scotland by 2032, alongside a design specification for HS2 trains that includes a requirement for on-train cycle storage to allow for the charging of e-bikes.

HSRG is also calling for a shift in focus from overall trip numbers to personal mileage, in order to shift more carbon-intensive travel to rail. At present, almost half of surface transport emissions are estimated to come from trips under 15 miles, compared with just a quarter for trips over 50 miles.

It also wants more ambitious targets to transfer freight from road to rail to be set, starting with a doubling of rail freight mileage when HS2 opens in 2030.

A spokesman said: “HSRG’s submission to the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation plan makes it clear that HS2, and a wider national high-speed rail network, has an essential role ahead if we are to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.

“We are calling on the Government to make highspeed rail a central plank of their transport decarbonisation strategy, setting more ambitious carbon targets than those currently in place, including decarbonisation of the whole network by 2040.”