The editor-in-Chief of the Railway Gazette Christopher Jackson has published a new article “Cleaner greener and leaner” in the January Railway Gazette continuing the discussions at the Transport Day organised by the Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport (SLoCaT) and Michelin Challenge Bibendumon on December 6^th,2015. More than 540 delegates gathered at International Union of Railways (UIC) headquarters for the Transport Day and Railway Gazette was one of the participants in a panel on the contribution of rail in mitigating climate change, co-ordinated by suppliers’ association The European Rail Industry (UNIFE).

Jackson mentions in the article that during the Transport Day, there was a disconnect between the priorities of the developed countries, which want to harness ever more advanced technology and protect their established industries, and emerging countries that are struggling to provide any form of mass transport to support their growing economies, let alone in a sustainable way.

He claims that the biggest ‘quick win’ in reducing transport emissions could be achieved by encouraging modal shift for both passengers and freight. Rail must become more efficient, convenient, reliable and cost-effective, so that people want to use it, and that requires positive action to boost competitiveness. While rail is by far the most environmentally-friendly form of surface transport, many of the world’s railways are not being used as effectively as they could be.

Jackson also points out that the message from Paris is that there needs to be much more cross-modal thinking, with a focus on integration to make public transport easier to use, multimodal ticketing, better real-time information and door-to-door journey planning for both passengers and freight.

To know more about the Transport Day, read our report on Transport Day 2015, or visit our website PPMC Transport Day 2015.

To read the original article “Cleaner greener and leaner” by Christopher Jackson, please click here.