As a way of reducing flights between London and Manchester, government had suggested that a high speed rail network would both invigorate the train line and reduce carbon emissions from air travel on this busy route.
But a new report – which was government commissioned – argues that the new train line could end up being more damaging in terms of carbon emissions, than the air route. Taking into account the building of the route itself, the report has claimed that the new rail link would emit as much carbon as the London-Manchester air route does in 60 years.
Director of the RAC foundation was cynical of the government’s moves, stating that,
“It is unwise for the government to have committed so heavily to high-speed rail in advance of the completion of the High Speed Two review, when they already have available their own comprehensive studies calling into question the environmental benefits and suggesting much higher costs for the taxpayer“.
The RAC foundation noted, too, that building and maintenance costs would be high, amounting to a large proportion of public spending that could reap little environmental benefit.
In the report itself, it commented that,
“There is no potential carbon benefit in building a new line on the London to Manchester route over the 60-year appraisal period. In essence, the additional carbon emitted by building and operating a new rail route is larger than the entire quantity of carbon emitted by the air services“.
There are other options. The report did claim that a London to Edinburgh route based on the same proposed system as the London to Manchester rail link, would reduce carbon emissions over a 60 year period. It also reported that the same could be said for a London to Glasgow route.
For this to be the case, though, it would have to take just over 60% of transport between the locati0ns, limiting the importance of the air routes significantly. Certainly possible, it is still a relatively risky proposal.
It must also be said that the market share required by rail in this scenario increases with the number of trains that run – and therefore emit carbon – per day.
