Data shows Rail electrification plans fall far short of UK net zero targets

Lates data has shown that plans to electrify the UK’s railways are running so far short of what is needed that it would take 240 years at current rates to reach the net zero goal.

The UK is set to electrify 162.5km (101 miles) of railway track, which is only about 12% of what is estimated to be needed over that period to be in line with the goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Over the next three years, to the end of 2025.

An estimated 448km a year of rail must be electrified to meet the UK’s net zero commitments. Current plans would need to be increased eightfold to meet that target. The figures, obtained through a freedom of information request by the Liberal Democrats, mark a continuation of the sluggish progress of rail electrification over the past eight years.

Data from the House of Commons library, also commissioned by the Lib Dems, shows that between 2015 and 2022 the UK only once, in 2019, met the target of 448km a year.

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Recall that last year, only 2.2km of track was electrified. The new East West Rail line, under construction and scheduled to come into use in 2025, is also not being electrified, which the Lib Dems said was a missed opportunity.

In its latest progress report to parliament, published this week, the Committee on Climate Change found that progress on reducing emissions from transport had stalled. Electrification is needed to bring down greenhouse gas emissions from transport.

Wera Hobhouse, the transport, energy and climate spokesperson for the Lib Dems, said: “The government’s neglect and ignorance of the urgency needed to drive down transport emissions cannot be overstated. These latest figures are just another example of their claims of being world leaders in decarbonisation lying in tatters.”

She said that the government had moved too slowly on net zero, of which public transport must be a key part. “[There] has been a complete failure to push towards cleaner rail travel,” she said. “It is clear from the lack of plans for rail electrification that they do not even recognise their errors.”

Story was adapted from the Guardian.