RIA puts electrification at heart of future train policies

Electrification is the optimal solution on intensively used routes, says the Railway Industry Association (RIA) in its submission to the House of Commons Transport Select Committee’s Trains fit for the future inquiry.

RIA’s Electrification Cost Challenge report suggests that electrification can be delivered for between 33% and 50% of the costs of some projects.

The industry body is calling for a rolling programme of electrification of the most intensively used parts of the network, and says hydrogen multiple units could be a “plausible solution” on longer and less intensively used regional routes. However, it believes battery-powered trains will only be suitable for short (up to 60-mile) journeys with speeds no higher than 60mph.

The submission also calls for a stable rolling stock order pipeline, certainty on strategic policy decisions, and a long-term strategy for rail.

RIA Technical Director David Clarke said: “The Government has set out a challenge to the rail industry to decarbonise the network by 2040, and on behalf of the rail supply chain we have submitted our proposals setting out how we can do so.

• For the FULL story, read RAIL 880, published on June 5, and available digitally on Android, iPad and Kindle from June 1.