Published on: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Last updated: Tuesday, 24 October 2023
Greater Anglia’s reported carbon emissions have decreased by 17% compared to last year, figures show.
Greater Anglia’s carbon emissions[1] were reduced by over 67,000 tonnes between 1 April 2022 and 1 March 2023 according to a report by independent environmental consultancy, WSP.
This is the third year in a row that the train operator has reduced its carbon emissions.
The saving is the equivalent of the emissions produced by over 130,000 homes’ annual electricity usage and has been achieved thanks to a series of energy and carbon reduction measures.
The train operator has been working to minimise its carbon emissions and become an even more sustainable organisation, to achieve Net Zero along with the rest of the rail industry by 2050.
This has seen Greater Anglia introduce new more energy-efficient trains, cut waste, increase recycling and work with partners and communities on projects to improve sustainability and biodiversity at stations.
The company has also worked to install wireless energy management systems at its rail stations to ensure heating and lighting are used efficiently and taken steps to reduce water consumption.
The reduction in emissions is also in part thanks to the continued ‘greening’ of the National Grid which now uses more renewable sources to generate electricity, and this in turn powers Greater Anglia’s electric trains, depots, and stations.
Commenting on the figures, Greater Anglia’s Environment & Energy Manager, Nir Barak, said,
“I am pleased that we have made even more progress in the last year towards becoming ever more sustainable as an organisation.
“Research shows that trains are the most environmentally friendly form of transport after cycling and walking, with greenhouse gas emissions per kilometre by rail being far less than cars.
“Our new trains are more efficient and produce less particulate pollution than our old ones which is helping to make rail travel in East Anglia an even more environmentally friendly option.”
Greater Anglia’s new trains are designed to be more efficient and are built to higher emissions standards compared to the old ones.
Aerodynamic fronts, lighter chassis and brakes which return energy back to the network are some of the features of Greater Anglia’s new trains which are making train travel even more sustainable.
They are also longer with more seats, which means that they can carry more passengers and take even more cars off the road - preventing tonnes of harmful CO2 emissions from being released into the atmosphere as well as reducing congestion.
People can visit www.greateranglia.co.uk/GreenerAnglia to try the train operator’s new Carbon Calculator and find out how they can reduce their carbon footprint by switching to rail.
[1] Carbon emissions figure relate to Scope 1 and 2 emissions.