Tuesday 9 Nov 2021
Photos: DfT minister tours green trains with Network Rail at COP26
- Region & Route:
- National
Trudy Harrison MP, DfT minister and Member of Parliament for Copeland, was joined by Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines this afternoon to get a closer look at the best of British low-carbon train technology at Glasgow Central station.
Ms Harrison MP was given a tour of a Vivarail's next-generation battery train and the Porterbrook HydroFLEX, a hydrogen-ready hybrid capable of being powered by hydrogen, battery or the overhead electric wires. Both of these trains have been used for tours and visits during COP26 as part of Network Rail's Green Trains @ COP26 event.
Last year, Network Rail announced that it had become the first railway in the world to set the most ambitious level of science-based targets for reducing carbon emissions, and released the interim Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy, outlining the further electrification of the mainline rail network and use of alternative fuel trains needed to meet those targets.
The DfT’s First of a Kind competition provided funding for the development of the technology used to on board both trains.
ENDS
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - James Crook
Senior Media Relations Manager
Network Rail
07732 644202
james.crook@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk