■ Heritage lines step up worldwide search for steam coal supplies
THE Heritage Railway Association (HRA) is backing its members in their search for overseas supplies of steam coal with the end in sight for UK fuel.
Britain’s heritage railways are being forced to accept that the battle for continued domestic coal supplies is lost, with environmental protestors winning the fight against opening new mines once existing ones close.
Despite Government support for the continued burning of coal by heritage operators, the political tide elsewhere has turned decisively against the opening of new mines.
HRA chief executive Steve Oates said: “Over the past five years, every planning application for a new mine which could have produced the kind of coal we need has been refused.
“There are some limited stocks in reserve, and the last producing mine in the UK, Ffos-y-Fran in South Wales, will close in early 2022. After that, unless we find an alternative source of supply, heritage railways will be running on coal dust.”
Demand
As reported last issue, there has been widespread dismay in the sector after Newcastle City Council refused planning permission for a new open-cast coal mine at Dewley Hill near Throckley – which would have produced another three-and-a-half years of steam coal supplies.
Government policy has brought about the end of fossil fuel burning for energy production, with the UK’s last three coal-fired power stations shutting down within the next three years. Despite that, demand for coal in the UK will remain high.
Britain’s steel industry uses around 3,000,000 million tonnes of coal annually, and the cement industry nearly 2,000,000 tonnes.
To fulfil all the UK’s requirements for steel and cement production, coal must be imported from countries such as Russia or Colombia, or even as far away as Australia. However, the coal used in those industries is the wrong type for burning in steam locomotive fireboxes.
Howard Johnson, a director of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway (NYMR), Britain’s most popular heritage line in terms of passenger numbers, said: “Quite simply, it is the wrong kind of coal – industrial
material for steel and cement production tends to be 0.25 mm. Heritage railways require high quality 50-125 mm bituminous coal.
“We’re going to have to do what British steel and cement producers do – bring it in from overseas. That means we must set up our own supply chain, all the way from a foreign port, to the coalyard at the railway.
“It will call for knowledge, expertise and substantial cashflow reserves. It will substantially increase costs to heritage railways. It’s a major challenge.”
The HRA is already exploring ways and means of sourcing and distributing imported coal. Limited trials of imported coal are underway, starting last December on the NYMR and the Severn Valley Railway. However, with steaming opportunities constrained by the current lockdown, conclusive results of those trials are awaited.
In a House of Lords debate on January 21, HRA president Lord Faulkner, vice chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail, called on the Government to provide funding assistance and technical support for securing overseas supplies of coal, and to work with the heritage steam sector to fund environmental measures to mitigate the use of coal (see separate story).
Mitigation
While UK steam railways use only 26,000 tonnes of coal each year, they are working at every level to mitigate the environmental impact of steam operation, from training the most efficient techniques for the cleanest burning of coal, to offset activities such as lineside greening, photovoltaic power for facilities and solar power for water preheating.
Steve added: “Heritage railways produce just 0.02% of the UK’s total CO2 emissions – and return huge rewards in terms of leisure, entertainment and education. Like everyone, however, we need to develop and maintain the highest environmental credentials.
“Our mission now is to secure highquality coal from overseas that meets our heritage, tourism and commercial needs, and which meet or exceed UK quality standards.’”
The HRA has pointed out that more than 150 operational heritage lines in the UK welcome more than 13 million visitors annually while contributing an estimated £400 million to the national economy. They provide 4000 full-time equivalent jobs, supported by 22,000 volunteers.
“There are some limited stocks in reserve, and the last producing mine in the UK, Ffos-y-Fran in South Wales, will close
in early 2022.”