Railways: How they may contribute to a sustainable future

Abstract

A combination of a rapidly increasing world population and an increasing energy-intensive lifestyle has led to doubts about the sufficiency of natural resources. The waste products of these economic activities have become large enough to change the climate of the globe. The demand for transport is characterized by an exponential increase and a tendency to choose faster modes. These facts give rise to concerns about the sustainability of present transport practices. While railways presently offer significant environmental advantages over other modes of transport, particularly the car, in many areas the gap is closing quickly. Cars are much safer, more energy efficient and less polluting than a decade ago. Trains in the future will have to contend with reducing hydrocarbon fuel supplies and much stricter legislation limiting emissions, particularly diesel particulates. Because the energy environmental performance of trains depends on the passenger load factor, the areas in which railways excel are high-speed intercity and commuting. Both these activities are well served by electric traction. With very few exceptions railway companies have not yet responded to significant environmental challenges. The oft-stated complacent view, that railways are environmentally superior to other modes of transport, fails to recognize that the competition is rapidly eroding their lead.