Incentivising light-weight passenger rolling stock

The People: Josh Goldwitz and Bianca Mulder, engineers at Lloyds Register Rail.

The Project: Josh and Bianca identified a trend of passenger trains becoming heavier and attributed it to several factors including increased safety systems and passenger comfort features. The negative impacts of this weight gain include increased energy consumption and therefore CO2 emissions, as well as damage to rail infrastructure. Many individuals throughout the industry recognise the benefits of lighter trains and have proposed a variety of solutions, but progress has been slow. The focus of this project therefore, was to determine what incentives are required to put solutions into action and make rail a more efficient mode of transport.

In order to answer this question, Josh and Bianca undertook a series of investigations. First, they phrased the sustainability issues in a way that made them more relevant to the rail industry, by defining rail-related sustainability and sustainable decision-making, as well as explaining the advantages of lighter rolling stock. Second, they conducted a deeper analysis of the technical, design and operational factors leading to the apparent increase in the weight of rolling stock. They identified rail industry stakeholders, and clarified their roles within the chain of activity. Once the situation was mapped out, Bianca and Josh then looked at the barriers to achieving progress in creating more sustainable railways and finally, they highlighted noteworthy successes in weight reduction in the railway and other transport industries.

The Results: Josh and Bianca found that in order to reverse the increase in the weight of passenger rolling stock, the rail industry needs to:

• Change its culture to seek radical improvements in sustainability;
• Align incentives across the procurement and operating framework;
• Stimulate innovation by learning from other industries how to innovate without increasing risk.

Specifically, the report identifies a need to overcome the barriers created by ineffectual regulation, a railway culture resistant to change, misplaced incentives, and shortsighted planning. Removing these obstacles would allow the railway industry to operate in a more modern and efficient manner, both financially and environmentally.

The Value: This project highlighted the point that although the rail industry is recognised as a sustainable mode of transport, the design and infrastructure within the industry can be significantly improved, particularly in terms of energy efficiency. The barriers towards making these changes are on the whole contractual, rather than physical, and industry leaders really need to incentivise better practice.

Bianca and Josh reflected that:

“It was tremendous to have completed a project like this and know that the findings may help to motivate positive change in the rail industry. We have also appreciated having the opportunity to meet so many prominent rail professionals and learn about how they perceive such an important topic as sustainable development.”