Tuesday 14 Sep 2021
New Climate Hero Visiting Glasgow Central
- Region & Route:
- Scotland’s Railway: Scotland
Glasgow Central will showcase a major step forward in the reduction of carbon in rail freight this Wednesday and is inviting everyone to come and see it.
As part of Scotland’s Climate week 2021 and fuelled by hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO), DB Cargo’s “I am a Climate Hero” locomotive will be on display in the station enabling anyone to see up close the latest development in cleaner, greener freight trains and raise awareness of the environmental benefits of modal shift to rail.
The environmental benefits of moving goods by rail rather than by road are already substantial, with freight trains replacing several million lorry movements in Scotland each year.
DB Cargo UK, which operates services to and from one of Scotland’s largest rail freight terminals at Mossend, North Lanarkshire, is amplifying those benefits even further by using HVO.
You can come and see the environmentally-friendly Class 66 locomotive up close from 0900 to 1700, Wednesday 15 September on platform 11.
Transport Minister Graeme Dey said:
“I’m pleased the Climate Hero Locomotive has arrived in Glasgow Central Station during the Scottish Government’s Climate Week to help highlight our vision for future rail freight. We want to see a competitive rail freight sector playing an increasing role in Scotland’s ambition for a net zero, sustainable, inclusive economy by providing a safer, greener and more efficient way of transporting products and materials.
“Considerable work has been undertaken by public and private sector partners since the publication of our Rail Freight Strategy in 2016 to support and promote sustainable rail freight growth in Scotland. The rolling programme of efficient electrification supports the key role that rail freight has to play in helping to achieve our climate change objectives and it is encouraging to see that the rail industry is also taking forward decarbonisation measures.
“DB Cargo has led the way through the conversion of a Class 66 Loco to run on Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil (HVO). Sustainably-sourced lower carbon alternative fuels and private sector innovation will be key to some areas of transport decarbonisation over future years and progress is moving at pace. I welcome DB Cargo’s commitment to this agenda and will continue to work with other potential partners to get more involved in creating a low carbon, successful rail freight sector for Scotland.”
Alex Hynes, managing director of Scotland’s Railway said:
“DB Cargo is providing a fantastic opportunity for anyone to learn more about the work being delivered by rail freight companies as they build upon the sector’s unrivalled green credentials.
“The environmental benefits of rail freight are substantial - a freight train emits just a quarter of the carbon dioxide of the equivalent road journey. We want to start conversations with Scottish Businesses on how they can act now to decarbonise their supply chains through modal shift to rail.
“If just 10% of Scotland’s HGV movements were switched to rail it would reduce almost as much annual CO2e as the entire rail industry emits. Rail freight has a significant role to play in the decarbonisation of the transport networks in Scotland.”
Andrea Rossi, Chief Executive of DB Cargo UK said:
“We are proud to be playing our part in Scotland’s Climate Change Week and demonstrating our innovative approach to reducing not just our own carbon footprint, but those of our customers.
“Harnessing sustainable sources of energy like this will help us to achieve our bold and ambitious vision for a net zero carbon transport system in Scotland by 2045.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Climate Week is an opportunity to showcase our collective actions in response to the climate emergency and to encourage further action to help Scotland achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045.
CO2e, is a standard unit for measuring carbon footprints
HVO – Hydro-treated Vegetable Oil – is marketed as “one of the world’s purest and greenest fuels”.
It’s synthetically made through the hydro-treatment process from waste vegetable oils or animal fats which significantly reduces harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions when used in diesel vehicles and machinery.
Tests have shown that reductions of up to 90% can be achieved.
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