Tuesday 08 December 2009
Now is the time for Britain to join the high speed rail revolution if it is to meet the emissions targets on the table at this week’s Copenhagen summit, says HSR//UK, the consortium of 11 cities, backing a high speed rail network for Britain, with other European countries now backing the campaign.
Travel by train already produces a much lower carbon footprint than by car or air, and this gap is forecast to widen dramatically over the next 30 years, with a high speed rail network also capable of providing high quality, carbon neutral transport.
At the start of the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen, other European high speed rail operators have backed HSR\\UK’s call for a UK high speed rail network.
There are 3,480 miles of high speed railway lines in mainland Europe with a further 2,160 miles under construction and 5,280 miles planned for the future. In Britain, despite inventing the world’s first passenger railway there are only 68 miles in operation.
Andreas Hambrecht, Head of international Business, Deutsche Bahn, said:
“Germany has benefited enormously from improved connectivity and regional economic growth, which high speed rail brings. Germany’s high speed rail network is a vital piece of our economic infrastructure, connecting a number of city regions with each other and promoting low-emission travel across the country and Europe. After almost 20 years of operations the high speed trains “ICE” of Deutsche Bahn account for around two thirds of all long-distance rail transport services in Germany.”
“We see the most important factors of success being a high speed network built according to common European Standards, as well as a good link between the new British high-speed network, and the continental European high speed network; via the existing HS1 and the Channel Tunnel.
“The HSR\\UK campaign is to be commended for helping to raise the importance of a high speed network for Britain.”
Richard Brown, Chief Executive of Eurostar, said:
“The combination of Eurostar and HS1 has transformed travel between the UK and the continent. It’s no surprise that the vast majority of people travelling to France and Belgium from the South-East have come to see high-speed rail as the most convenient and hassle-free way of travelling. There is no doubt that a new high-speed network would open up key UK cities to Europe and provide an environmentally responsible alternative to flying.”
Sir Richard Leese, chair of HSR\\UK said: ““All the UK’s cities need to catch up with their European counterparts – fast.”
“Mainland Europe has invested in an extensive high speed rail network and is already reaping the benefits in terms of business efficiency, connectivity and the environment. An HSR network linking our 11 principal cities would be a high profile commitment by Britain, and a practical way of meeting the lower levels of carbon emissions that will be needed.”
Rail’s lower carbon footprint is already well established, but a UK network would be even more environmentally friendly:
- A purpose-built HSR will have huge capacity and will be capable of using longer, double deck trains with twice the capacity of those on the classic network.
- Load factors are higher on HSR lines compared with conventional long distance trains.
- The latest design techniques are capable of reducing aerodynamic drag of high speed trains by around 15%, while regenerative braking will save a further 20% in electricity use.
- HSR lines will be electrified, so that CO2 emissions will reduce as the production of electricity is decarbonised.
- Britain’s first HSR carries trains run by Eurostar, on which passenger journeys are already carbon neutral.
For more information log onto www.highspeedrailuk.com
ENDS
For further information, please contact: Pamela McDade at Freshwater on 0141 229 4050 or email pamela.mcdade@freshwater-uk.com
Notes to Editors:
Research carried out by the Association of Train Operating Companies shows that carbon emissions per passenger kilometre for rail are about one half of that for car, and one third that for air. (ATOC Energy & Emissions Statement, 30th Oct 2007)
This research also shows that over the last ten years rail emissions per passenger kilometre have reduced by a quarter while those from cars have only dropped by 13% and from airlines have actually increased by 3%.
Research for Greengauge 21, the group proposing a high speed network for Britain, shows that by 2055, airline emissions could have reduced to as little as 50g CO2 per pass km, while the figure for cars could be 40g, or as little as 4g for electric cars, but rail will have reduced to just 1g. (Energy Consumption and CO2 impacts of High Speed Rail, May, 2009)
HSR//UK is a committed group of 11 major UK cities – Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, and Sheffield – that have joined together to call for the development of a high-speed rail network, which will not only link centres of economic activity in the UK, but also connect to the high-speed network already in existence in Europe. The 11 cities together are responsible for generating over 25 per cent of the nation’s wealth.