RSSB
Rail could risk losing its assumed green image, but, Anthony Perret points out, there are opportunities for industry to raise its game on sustainable development
T
he 2012 global survey of companies’ sustainability performance by EIRIS (Ethical Investment Research Service) saw FirstGroup come second, and GoAhead make the top 10. Their high ratings were based on the inherent benefits of public transport, as much as the companies’ own performance, demonstrating that rail still benefits from a strong starting position on sustainability compared with other transport modes.
But pressures such as carbon and
cost affect everyone and every sector, and competition is growing. The UK automotive industry is making great gains in cutting carbon from motoring, a mode which emitted 15 per cent less CO2 in 2012 than it did in 2000. It's also easy to fall into a trap of thinking an industry has an endless strategic advantage - consider the early dot- com investments.
Sustainable development is about
preserving the capability of future generations to meet human needs, including economic, social and environmental. Driven by societal expectation as well are individual issues such as climate change, industry has increasingly had to face up to the challenge of developing sustainably, and rail is no different.
Over the last 10 years, RSSB has engaged
with senior industry people from Network Rail, the passenger and freight train operating community, rolling stock owners, suppliers, government and ORR to form the Sustainable Rail Programme (SRP). It’s a powerful consensus, but industry leaders’ philosophy is simple: in the same way that safety cannot be treated as a ‘bolt-on’ to business-as-usual, sustainable development is not an optional extra, but something that has to be embedded in an organisation’s culture and its business performance. This led to agreement on the industry’s Sustainable Development Principles. Launched in 2009, they represent core values about the railway being at the centre of a transport system that meets the travel needs of society without compromising future quality of life.
The rail industry sustainable development principles: • customer-driven • putting rail in reach of people
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• providing an end to end journey • being an employer of choice • reducing our environmental impact • carbon smart • energy wise • supporting the economy • optimising the railway • being transparent
The principles reflect the knowledge and understanding of both the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development for the rail industry covering social, economic and environmental issues and could help the industry to develop sustainably in the long term.
But what has the take-up been like? Some companies have been early adopters, quick to implement the principles in individual organisational delivery plans, as well as being a key part of the Industry Strategic Business Plan (ISBP). However, with its unique structure
and a lack of obvious commercial drivers and, up to now, regulatory incentives, few companies were willing to 'walk the talk' on sustainable development. Now however, it is beginning to look like the Department for Transport (credit where it is due) has grasped the nettle, and has started to develop the incentives and
drivers to concentrate minds. The 2012 HLOS requires industry to develop plans to embed the SD Principles. The command paper of the same year announced an intention to embed the principles in all projects where the DfT was the principle funder and sponsor. And at the recent ‘UK rail opportunities day’, it was made clear that future franchise bidders will be tested on the quality and sustainability of their proposals.
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