It’s certainly a possibility. As far as charging trains is concerned, Network Rail is looking at two scenarios - either static charging or charging trains on the move.
But where electrification or battery-powered traction isn’t an option, there’s hydrogen. Last year, rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook tested its HydroFLEX train on the main line for the first time. It’s a demonstrator to prove the concept of rail-based hydrogen propulsion.
With most of the main inter-city routes likely to be electrified, hydrogen trains are likely to be deployed elsewhere - including intensive commuter routes where there are no overhead wires.
The HydroFLEX has been developed in conjunction with the University of Birmingham’s Centre of Railway Research and Education. Dr Stuart Hillmansen, who was involved in the research, says: “As part of that project, the university also worked with a number of companies developing the logistics and infrastructure around supplying hydrogen to the train.”
The ultimate aim is to use renewable electricity to produce the hydrogen through a process called electrolysis, where hydrogen is extracted from water. Although the technology has been around for some time, it’s yet to be proven at scale.
There’s also the issue of how much electricity it takes to produce the gas with an electrolyser. There are some small-scale projects ongoing, and Hillmansen says: “We’re expecting to see electrolysers all over the place eventually, but now they are just operating in a few locations. The best example is the electrolyser in Aberdeen, which has been running the buses up there for a number of years.”
Ultimately, all that’s needed is a supply of three-phase electricity and a supply of water. Hillmansen says: “Then you just bring in a containerised solution which will have an electrolyser and the compressor and hydrogen storage that’s required to fuel trains. Trains need ten times as much hydrogen as a typical bus. So, it is about increasing that capability and the scale of the operation as well.”
Hillmansen maintains that advances in hydrogen refuelling infrastructure and the capability of trains could make some electrification projects that might be planned over the next 30 years obsolete before shovels are in the ground.
He adds: “A number of railways around the world are looking at this. Many railways don’t have a high proportion of electrification. They are also looking towards decarbonisation, so it’s a global problem, even for very heavy haul railways such as you have in North America or mining operations.”
In the UK, proving the concept means first reducing the cost of making hydrogen. It’s thought that around two-thirds of the power that goes in is lost during the manufacturing process. So, is it really worth it? Wouldn’t it be better just to put up wires and send the energy directly to the trains in the first place?
Hillmansen: “It isn’t really a problem if the energy is coming from renewable sources, because then it’s just an economic argument. And if you can produce the hydrogen fuel to make the train economic to run, then you don’t really need to worry about the fact that you use more electricity than you would have if you sent it there directly.”
Using that comparison, it’s expected that when all costs are considered, some lightly used railways may well come in at a lower cost than an electrified railway, even though you’ll use more electricity.
It’s not just vehicles moving on rails that need updating to meet the 2050 target. Companies such as Network Rail have a road fleet of more than 8,000 vehicles, including cars, light goods and heavy goods vehicles.
The company has started moving away from an owned fleet to a leasing arrangement. It means that its fleet potentially will need renewing more frequently, giving an ideal opportunity to go green.
Network Rail signed the Clean Van Commitment in 2018 and is now developing a strategy to transition its road vehicle fleet to electric. It’s been working in collaboration with the Transport Systems Catapult.
A spokesman for Network Rail said: “Our sourcing team is leading on activity to support the Decarbonisation Programme, and late last year rolled out a dedicated programme across the Network Rail regions.
“There are 11 initiatives that together will significantly contribute to our carbon reduction. This includes transitioning our road fleet to electric vehicles, creating electric vehicle charging points, identifying opportunities to generate our own renewable electricity on our land, and making sure that future utility contracts are as sustainable and efficient as possible.”
And installing charge points is where companies such as Liberty Charge come in. Its business model concentrates on residential charging, particularly in areas where most houses don’t have driveways and homeowners are unable to install their own charge points.
Some companies rely on staff taking vehicles home overnight and Liberty Charge, which is using its sister company Virgin Media to deploy infrastructure, is poised to help in that respect. The company is already working with several fleet operators to identify where the charging hotspots might be.
CEO Neil Isaacson says: “What we are trying to do is get the fleet operators to work together collaboratively, to share that information. That enables companies like us to work hand in hand with local authorities.”
Liberty Charge and fleet operators all own data sets, which can help identify where EV uptake is going to be strongest. Says Isaacson: “The fleet is going to electrify first, and if we work with operators to unblock that market and understand where their drivers are going to be, and therefore where they want chargers located, then that kind of works for everyone.”
The building blocks for road and rail are now being put in place. And although progress has been slow, the pace of change is gathering.
As far as power sources are concerned, there clearly isn’t going to be a ‘one size fits all’ scenario and more development will be needed for some favoured options. It’s also not going to be cheap, with billions of pounds needing to be spent to get the railways to net zero.
And will it happen by 2050? Perhaps, but a lot of work needs doing if that deadline is to be met.
As recent climate change reports have shown, decarbonisation must happen. And despite already being one of the most environmentally friendly ways of travelling, the railways still have a big part to play.
