Chapter 9: Towards Net Zero Railways for Net Zero Transport

The concept of net zero is a product of the early 21st century, while the railways as we know them were a product of the 19th century. The challenge for what is for the most part a legacy system is to re-engineer railways, to adjust their operations, and to exploit their inherent advantages in terms of net zero. Steel wheel on steel rail is a low-friction system that has economic advantages over other modes of transport in terms of carrying heavy loads and dense traffic at high speeds. It allows an energy efficiency per traffic unit that other modes cannot match, with commensurate environmental benefits, although as Smith (2003) noted this environmental advantage has reduced as rival modes have innovated at a greater pace than rail.