The UK’s only high speed rail company has significantly cut carbon since 2019, thanks in no small part to cleaner electricity supplies.
London St. Pancras Highspeed, the company that owns the UK’s only high speed rail line and all stations to the Channel Tunnel, has announced its overall carbon dioxide emissions are now one-third lower than pre-pandemic. According to the firm, wider UK grid decarbonisations and energy efficiency improvements throughout the railway, including traction power projects and targeted heating and lighting upgrades, have helped achieve the impressive results.
42% of all electricity consumed on the two routes from London St. Pancras International to Canterbury and continental Europe now comes from ‘clean’ zero carbon sources. This is achieved by utilising Corporate Power Purchase Agreements, with targets now in place to hit 80% renewable power within the next five years. The news comes alongside announcements that passenger capacity is set to increase from 2,000 to 5,000 customers per hour, with expansion also bringing about a number of new destinations.
‘Sustainability remains central to how we operate and invest for the future. This report shows the tangible progress we have made in reducing emissions across our operations, while underlining the much bigger opportunity to enable lower‑carbon travel at scale,’ said Robert Sinclair, CEO of London St. Pancras Highspeed.
‘Through better use of existing infrastructure, increased capacity, enhanced connectivity and closer collaboration with partners, we are making rail more accessible and strengthening its role as the first choice for journeys between the UK and Europe,’ he continued.
Image: Nathan Langer / Unsplash
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