UK needs 4,500 new trains to hit green goal, says Network Rail

BRITAIN will need more than 4,500 new trains if the country is to meet a pledge to go carbon-neutral by 2050, track operator Network Rail has warned.

An estimated 12,500km (7,800 miles) of railway lines must also be electrified over the next 30 years to hit ministers’ “net zero” target, with the costs involved ultimately falling on taxpayers and passengers.

Just 39pc of the country’s railways are electrified, far behind the likes of Italy, Spain and Germany where a respective 65pc, 63pc and 60pc of services run on electrified lines.

Between 3,600 and 3,800 electric trains and up to 200 battery or hydrogen locomotives will be required to cut the pollution churned out by commuters and other travellers. Around 650 to 700 new freight trains will be needed too, the Network Rail report said.

A leaked draft of the findings were reported by The Sunday Telegraph in July and revealed that taxpayers will spend up to £30billion on upgrading rail infrastructure.

Electrifying the network will cost up to £2.5million per kilometre and is to be funded by Government-owned Network Rail, which owns the country’s tracks, points and stations and is the biggest single entity on the train network. But the bill for thousands of new trains could be met by the private sector, paid for by operators which make their money from selling tickets.

Specialist train leasing companies said the report presented an opportunity for private firms.

Japanese officials made a specific reference to supporting Britain’s railways when announcing a free-trade agreement yesterday. Last year, the Government pushed through a law requiring Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions to hit net zero by 2050.

Paul Mcmahon, interim managing director at Network Rail, said: “Rail is already one of the greenest ways to travel.

“It moves a lot of people and takes cars and lorries off the road, and we are committed to making it even greener through decarbonisation.

“The single most significant way we can do that is by removing diesel trains from the network.”