Railway Emissions study published
Thursday 21 Oct 2004
Railways are ahead of competing modes in terms of their overall emissions impact according to an information booklet published by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and The Railway Forum.
The booklet covers both passenger train and freight train environmental impacts and highlights that average rail freight emissions of CO2 are 8% of those from Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) per tonne kilometre.
Adrian Lyons, Director General of The Railway Forum said: "Rail is still ahead of the game as the least environmentally damaging form of powered transport yet too often false comparisons between road and rail are made, for example contrasting the environmental impact of a small saloon car with a high speed train. The fact is that just 4,400 diesel vehicles play a major role in lifting some 89 million tonnes of freight and over 1 billion passengers in Britain each year. This compares with a road fleet of 425,000 goods vehicles and 25 million cars."
The publication entitled Rail and the environment is available at: www.railwayforum.com/publications.php and www.atoc-comms.org Copies are available from either The Railway Forum or ATOC on request.
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