8 June 2023
The Government is making insufficient progress on its key UK rail decarbonisation commitments, a detailed quantitative analysis has revealed.
Nearly two years on from the publication of the Government’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) which set out how Transport would achieve net-zero carbon by 2050, the Railway Industry Association (RIA) has reviewed all the commitments made in the TDP and measured them against public announcements up to May 2023. Each commitment has been rated as red (commitments not met), amber (commitment partially met) or green (commitment met).
The report found that of 45 commitments made across six different methods of transport, four were rated red, 12 amber and 29 green.
However, the report also shows that the Government is making significantly less progress when it comes to decarbonising the rail sector compared to other transport modes. Out of eight commitments on rail, three were rated red, five amber and none were rated green. This comes in stark contrast to other methods of transport, with the six commitments on buses and coaches, for example, all rated green.
The Report