News analysis


Strong leadership needed V


Railways all over the world are placing an increasing emphasis on introducing sustainable practices across all areas of their operations. But with road and aviation aggressively pursuing their own green agendas, Kevin Smith argues that rail needs strong leadership and a shared sustainable vision in order to win the fight for project funding.


ENICE’s car-less streets were an apt backdrop for the 12th UIC Conference on Sustainability held in the city on October 25-26. Around 250 delegates from all over the world attended the conference, which when compared with just 24 attendees at the first conference in Paris in 1992, reflects the growing importance of sustainability and sustainable practices to the industry.


Mr Joachim Kettner, head of environmental affairs at German Rail’s (DB) Environment Centre, and outgoing chairman of the UIC Environment, Energy, and Sustainability Platform, has been at the centre of the conference, and the


sustainability movement, since the beginning. He told IRJ that there is a noticeable change since the early days. “Twenty years ago we were seen as idealists and crazy green guys with an idealistic


approach to what we would like to do,” Kettner says. “Now we are an integral part of the business community and a prominent feature of the railway industry. This has been a massive step. And the fact that we are able to talk about sustainability at all is because it has become such a big part of the human consciousness.”


The UIC has set various


targets to achieve greater sustainability across its members’ networks, the most obvious being its pledge to reduce railway emissions by 30% compared with 1990 levels by 2020 and 50% by 2050. Already emissions have been cut by 20% on passenger services and 38% on freight, while there is noticeable progress in adopting sustainable practices. As one delegate put it “five years ago we were only talking about these things. Now we are seeing them being


implemented.” Some of the best examples


are highlighted in the UIC’s sustainability awards. This year’s recipient of sustainable land use award was Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) for its interactive mapping tool that will aid planning of future infrastructure by only causing minimal impact to the environment as well as helping to promote improved biodiversity. Trenitalia won the sustainable mobility award for its three-project initiative to attract new customers and promote more sustainable door-to-door journeys. This included combined rail tickets and electric vehicle rentals, discounts for taking foldable bicycles on trains, and a train and car share initiative. The Erex sustainable railway


energy system, which helps infrastructure managers and operators reduce energy consumption, and was


developed by Eress, which is jointly owned by Infrabel, Banedanmark, Jernbaneverket and Trafikverket, won the


Energy and CO2 category. Indian Railways’ installation of 1.41 million new low-energy lightbulbs in residential areas received the jury’s special prize. Previous winners of the


award include Norwegian passenger operator NSB which developed a tool to measure energy consumption across its rolling stock fleet, and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) which adopted sustainability as the core element of its company strategy.


Significant challenge


Despite these successes, sustainable projects and practices face a significant challenge in securing the funding to proceed,


Mr Jean Pierre Loubinoux addresses the UIC’s 12th Conference on Sustainability in Venice on October 25. 16


particularly in instances where the improvements do not provide an immediate economic benefit. Mr Libor Lochman, executive director of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), told the conference that the EuropeTrain Project was successfully concluded last month and that an official announcement of its findings is expected in December. The project consists of testing LL brake pads which are designed to reduce noise compared with conventional KK blocks, and were installed on 30 wagons on a freight train that has travelled 300,000km across Europe since December 2010. With certification set to take place in 2013, and installation anticipated to start in early 2014, Lochman says that a road map is in place to implement the project. However, with an estimated pricetag of É350-400m, and


IRJ December 2012


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