How Electric Rail Innovation is Driving Rail’s Future at the Heart of Sustainable Mobility

Innovation in electric rail is helping to position the sector as a key element in a sustainable transportation future. Continual innovation is tackling challenges and maintaining momentum towards net zero, just as it is in the other key transport sectors of automotive and aviation.

This article explores key challenges for sustainable electric rail and how innovation is helping address these challenges. It highlights the importance of a holistic approach, encompassing manufacturing materials and methods, in realizing rail’s wider environmental and efficiency benefits.

How Innovation is Helping to Meet the Challenges

A 2022 Boston Consultancy Group article highlights the sustainability advantages of rail travel, along with some of the challenges it is facing.

While investment in infrastructure remains a significant challenge, there is a growing recognition of the need for investment in rail from regions and institutions that have given it a lower priority in the past.

A 2021 Rapid Transition Alliance article on low carbon railways in India reported that, while only 30% of the world’s railways were electric in 2021, with regions such as North and South America and the UK historically showing lower levels of investment, other regions like Europe and Japan were close to full electrification, with China and India developing rapidly. In July 2021, the US Senate approved a $66 billion investment in rail infrastructure, demonstrating how countries that have not previously prioritized rail investment are working to catch up.

For now, though, the majority of rolling stock worldwide is still diesel-powered, leaving a gap that innovation is starting to narrow. OEMs are already investing in R&D for new developments in electrification.

Providers such as WSP in the USA and Siemens globally are working with transit companies to drive efficient and cost-effective line electrification.

Others are innovating to make rail transport more sustainable without the heavy investment needed for full electrification.

Rolls-Royce has collaborated with rolling stock provider Porterbrook to deliver a hybrid train solution that pairs a diesel engine with a battery which stores power from braking to deliver a hybrid locomotive that reduces CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by up to 25%.

Alstom delivered the first fuel-cell powered train into commercial service in 2018, using a hydrogen fuel cell to deliver power to the batteries that provide its motive force.

Sustainable Rail is About Much More Than Power

While zero emission power sources are key to rail’s future of rail, sustainability is about much more than just power.

A holistic approach encompassing cost, customer experience and wider environmental impact is needed to maximize the potential for rail transport in a sustainable future.

New materials and manufacturing methods simplify design and construction, creating stronger, lighter-weight rolling stock that is more efficient, safer, more reliable, and cheaper to operate and maintain.

Stronger and lighter rolling stock reduces the energy used to accelerate and decelerate trains, resulting in lower energy usage and carbon footprint over the life of the system.

Fast, efficient, cost-effective rail, from urban and local to inter-city and high-speed, is attractive for freight and passengers and reduces congestion on the roads.

How Henkel are Contributing to the Sustainable Future of Rail  

Henkel help our customers become more efficient and achieve their sustainability ambitions with our broad portfolio of material solutions and expertise for the rail industry.