• A key publication showing the environmental advantage of rail with sound scientific evidence

• An important source of energy and CO2 data for understanding environmental issues related to the transport sector

The International Energy Agency (IEA), recognised as the world’s most authoritative source for energy statistics since the seventies, and UIC, representing over 200 railway companies and associations across the world, have published the first railway handbook on “Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of the World Railway Sector”.

Tracking the progress of energy use and CO2 emissions is at the core of both institutions and synergies have emerged in order to improve data quality and collection for the rail sector.

The aim of the handbook is to support the overall framework constructed by the International Energy Agency on energy-related transport trends. This publication complements the IEA data with direct railway data, collected and quality-checked yearly by UIC since 2008.

The transport sector is responsible for nearly 23% of energy-based CO2 emissions worldwide, mainly due to road traffic. Total transport CO2 emissions have constantly increased since 1990 and all transport modes – except railways – have increased their GHG emissions from fuel combustion. Railway companies operating worldwide produce less than 1% of the total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector.

Due to their low-carbon performance, railways are an important means to achieve sustainable mobility. Trains, especially in Europe, rely mostly on electricity, and the electricity markets are already subjected to mechanisms to lower the carbon content of electricity through the EU ETS (European Union Emission Trading Scheme). With electro-mobility being a key objective for many European countries, one of the most cost-effective actions should be to promote railway mobility.

In this handbook you will find the result of the harmonisation of the UIC Energy/CO2 railway database with the IEA world energy balances and CO2 emissions from the fuel combustion database.

This publication aims to be updated regularly in order to provide institutions, associations and decision-makers with robust data as the foundation on which to build the greening of our future transport choices.

You can find the “Railway Handbook 2012 – Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions” on the UIC website at the following link:

http://www.uic.org/IMG/pdf/iea-uic_energy_consumption_and_co2_emission_of_world_railway_sector.pdf

Key facts & figures on railways in the European Union (EU27)

General information:

• The total length of railway lines in Europe has remained stable since 1990 (around 210,000 km)
• In 1990, only 30% of railway lines were electrified. In 2009, this percentage reached 53%. Around 80% of rail traffic is performed nowadays with electrified trains
• Railways improved their energy efficiency from 1990 to 2009: 13% less energy is needed now to move a passenger km and 19% less energy to move a tonne km
• Electricity used by railways in Europe is produced with an average of 30% from renewable sources. This percentage has significantly increased in the last four years
• High-speed and intercity trains – as expected – consume more energy per train km, but due to the higher load factor they consume less energy per passenger km
• European railways have committed to reduce their specific emissions by 30% in 2020, calculated from 1990
• From 1990 to 2009 European railways reduced their total CO2 emissions by 32%, passenger specific emissions (per passenger km) by 20% and freight specific emissions (per tonne km) by 38%. The freight sector has already reached its 2020 target for specific emissions

Transport Trends and Modal Split

• Total transport demand grew by 7% between 2000 and 2009
• The financial and economic crisis substantially decreased transport demand between 2008 and 2009, in particular for the freight sector (-12% from 2008 to 2009)
• In 10 years (2000-2009), no significant change in modal split for the passenger sector was recorded. For the freight sector there have been small changes towards road freight
• Railways’ modal share was 6% for passenger and 7% for freight transport activities

Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of the Transport Sector

• The transport sector in 2009 was responsible for about 31% of total CO2 emissions from fuel combustion in Europe
• In 2009, road was responsible for 71% of total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector. Navigation was responsible for 14.3% and aviation for 12.3% Railways produced 1.8% of total CO2 emissions caused by the transport sector, corresponding to 0.6% of total CO2 emissions in EU27
• Total transport CO2 emissions grew by nearly 28% from 1990 to 2009 and by 5% from 2000 to 2009: all transport modes – except railways – have increased their total emissions

Following the issuing of a consolidated TAF TSI master plan, an important milestone was achieved on 10 July in the shape of the UIC Common Components Group General Assembly.

The stakeholders of the Common Components Group agreed on:

• The co-ownership agreement that regulates their common ownership, including the terms and conditions to access and use the Common Components.

• The license agreement (general user contract) that defines the terms and conditions of the use of the Common Components by those in the non-CCG members’ sector.

• The price model and prices for the Common Interface and Reference Files. The principles are that each user has to pay the same price per license – with no difference between RUs and IMs, or big and small companies – and that they should respect the demand of fair cost-sharing between stakeholders and users. The assumption made is that until 2015 all TAF TSI actors have to use the Reference Files.

With that the Common Components Group is ready to:

• Serve all TAF (TAP) actors with a Common Interface Solution at a unified, transparent, fair and lowest possible price level.

• Organise the governance and use of the TAF (TAP) TSI Reference Files system at a transparent, fair and lowest possible price level for the entire sector, including the necessary support for newcomers.

The TAF TSI

The TAF TSI (Technical Specifications of Interoperability on Telematic Applications for Freight) was developed to facilitate international exchange of information on cross-border rail-freight services. It sets the functional and technical standards for exchanging information between infrastructure managers, railway undertakings and other stakeholders. The facilitation of information exchange will increase efficiency, service quality, reduce freight handling costs and provide better customer information.

The 5th UIC Railway Policy & Management course took place very successfully thanks to the long cooperation between UIC, KORAIL and Vietnam Railways.

The 2012 edition was the most successful one with 19 participants from 12 countries and 13 organisations. Major Asian railways from China, Japan, India and Taipei joined the course, along with new and smaller ones from Indonesia, Mongolia and Vietnam.

With a desire to open up to potential members and railways in need, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Nepal actively participated in spite of their local situation. Seven lecturers from five countries were able to deliver speeches on technical and management issues, and Teodor Gradinariu also outlined the global objectives of UIC.

The next training initiative of the UIC Asia-Oceania region will take place in Delhi from 11 – 12 October with the 5th Asian Network of Training Centres summit that will discuss methodologies, organisations and topics to be covered during the future training sessions.

All railway training centres from Asia and Oceania are already invited to join this event co-organised with Indian Railways.

More than 12 billion euros of growth-boosting railway upgrades across England and Wales – representing faster journey times, more reliable services and capacity for 140,000 extra daily commutes by train – have been announced by UK Transport Secretary Justine Greening.

The full 12 bn euro programme of improvements to the rail network published on 16 July will meet the needs of intercity passengers, commuters and freight up to the end of this decade while the Government continues to work on High Speed 2 to deliver rail capacity for the British economy in the decades to come.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: “Investment on this scale, in every region of the country, shows how this coalition government is focused on delivering an affordable, reliable and faster railway network that drives jobs and growth. “These plans to increase capacity and shorten journey times on intercity, commuter and freight services are, alongside our plans for high speed rail, absolutely key to securing our country’s prosperity in the decades ahead.”

The investment was also hailed by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “From Crossrail, high speed rail and now the billions of pounds of investment we are announcing today, this government is committed to taking the long-term decisions to deliver growth and jobs.

“In what is the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era this investment will mean faster journeys, more seats, better access to stations, greater freight links and a truly world class rail network.”

For further information please visit: http://www.dft.gov.uk/news/press-releases/dft-press-20120716a/

(Source: UK Department for Transport)

Mrs Jeannine Pilloud, Director of Passenger Transport at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), and Mr Ulrich Homburg, Deutsche Bahn Board Member for Passenger Traffic, have signed an agreement to further develop the long-term partnership between the two companies in this area of business. The aim is to boost rail services in long-distance international transport between the two countries and to make it more attractive. Each railway company represents the other’s largest international transport market, with 35 direct services currently operating between Germany and Switzerland. These services were used by 13,000 travellers a day in 2011, which is the equivalent of 4.8 million travellers per year.

This cooperation agreement will strengthen the joint marketing of SBB and DB’s international rail services through the subsidiary Rheinalp GmbH, which has been operative for the last six years. The subsidiary will focus on bolstering cooperation with partners in the tourism industry.

(Source: DB/SBB)

By the end of 2017, SBB’s current rail safety system will be replaced by ETCS (European Train Control System) technology. ETCS allows standardised access to the European rail network and is a sound basis for increasing the safety, capacity and reliability of rail traffic. Under the terms of a service provision agreement with the Swiss Confederation, SBB is investing 300 million Swiss francs (250 million euros) to upgrade the safety system. On 13 July the first ETCS balises were installed at Airolo on the Gotthard line, marking the start of a programme to install balises at 11,000 locations covering the entire Swiss mainline network. The balises were installed by representatives of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport (FOT), Swiss Federal Railways, and their industry partners Siemens and Thales.

This ETCS technology with cab signalling is currently implemented on the Mattstetten-Rothrist high speed line and in the Lötschberg Base Tunnel. SBB’s aim is to roll out ETCS Level 2 across the whole of the conventional rail network by 2025, allowing headways of two minutes for trains travelling at 200 km/h. ETCS Level 2 will enable signalling information to be transmitted directly to the driver’s cab. This will not only improve the safety and reliability of traffic, but also enable the system to cope with an increase in traffic levels as trains will be able to follow each other more closely.

Monitoring speed to enhance safety

The replacement of legacy rail safety systems will mean rail transport companies can benefit from easier access to the Swiss network. Whereas up to four different systems are currently needed on board vehicles to interpret safety data, in future only a single ETCS system will be necessary. This will reduce the cost of infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance. Rail vehicles’ current equipment will nevertheless still be useable in the future and will not need to be replaced immediately.

Since ETCS is a European standard, this technology facilitates interoperability between networks. European transport policy already obliges EU member countries to equip new routes with ETCS technology. The plan is also to fit European freight corridors with ETCS, in order to encourage the carriage of goods by rail. The major Rotterdam-Genoa corridor, which crosses Switzerland, is to be fully equipped.

(Source: SBB)

Mrs Ines Jahnel, who studied information technology at Dresden University School of Traffic Engineering, and held various responsibilities in the areas of IT and production at German Railways (DB), has been appointed Head of Noise Protection at DB, a new responsibility created within the German railway company. Her task will consist in bundling all the activities within DB related to noise abatement and defining the implementation strategies. This field of responsibility will include noise reduction at existing rail infrastructures and equipping or retrofitting freight wagons with “silent” brake blocks.

(Source: DB)