this post was submitted on 03 Apr 2025
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UK Rail and Trains
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Talk about the UK rail network.
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We have an old network.
Electrifying all lines will take years. Using UK historic standards likely decades.
Building trains that run on both electrified and non electrified tracks means we stop using diesel as soon as they arrive.
I get it will take years, but we also just keep kicking the can further and further down the road.
We adopted 25kv in the 50s, but short term decisions by successive governments has meant that we electricifed barely 250 miles of track between 97 and 2019.
Given the operational life of an engine can realistically be many decades long, I do wonder what the carbon cost of manufacturing new tri-mode engines would be, compared to continuing to run old stock over the same time period, presuming a significant increase in the speed of electrification.
Newer classes are far more carbon-efficient, they incorporate safety features such as in-cab signalling that are essential to increasing line speeds and thus capacity, and they provide work for building and maintenance, preserving skilled jobs which would otherwise be lost from this country forever.
Oh totally, completely agree that there are many upsides on the newer classes.
My point was more on carbon emitted during manufacture specifically and if, for the sake of a noddy example, if that was more or less than running existing stock for 15 more years.
I have no idea, what that tipping point would be, and it feels like trimode may inadvertently facilitate further can kicking as running on battery is still better than diesel.
But maybe this is me wanting perfect instead of good.
Delays in electrification are not down to current rolling stock. There are bigger forces at play. For example freight operators have been mothballing their electric fleet because diesel has become cheaper than the electricity tariff per mile due to the recent energy price increases. Politics plays its part, with limited funding and each region scrabbling to get their own schemes done. Pay for a new station here, replace a footbridge with something wheelchair accessible there, and you quickly run out.