Network Rail has set electrification targets as part of its new Environmental Sustainability Strategy which sets out how the rail operator will think, plan and manage railways in the coming decades.
Revolving around four core priorities the new plan will aim to turn the UK rail network into a low emission railway, improve biodiversity, minimise waste and upgrade the network to be resilient to climate change. Network Rail aims to have a final investment decision for electrification of main line routes by 2029.
Other core aims to reduce emissions include widespread trialling bi-mode hydrogen and battery trains by 2024; reduce harmful pollutants by a quarter by the end of the decade; producing an air quality improvement plan for the networks managed stations and depots by 2024 and approving a traction decarbonisation strategy for the network by the end of 2020.
The rail operator aims to “go beyond” embodied carbon assessments to whole life carbon assessments to support infrastructure projects by 2027.