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Table 1.4 Transport emissions mitigation with a new 500 kilometre freight rail corridor: selected variables in three cases

Note: kt = thousand tonnes; g CO2-eq = grammes of carbon-dioxide equivalent.

Sources: Embedded emissions for rail construction assume the same values as calculated for high-speed rail (see Table 1.2). Train emissions intensity and loadings are based on country benchmarks, with high potential based on Russia, medium potential by the weighted world average and low potential by emission factors in China and train loading in the European Union.

Key message • A new freight rail corridor is estimated to have the capacity to replace 10-50% of road freight. The intensity of train emissions varies proportionally to train size.

The analysis suggests that, in the best case, net emission benefits are achieved after slightly more than one year after infrastructure construction (Figure 1.33). This is largely due to the fact that the emissions intensity of freight rail is nearly ten-times lower than that of trucks. The medium case offers net benefits in less than four years, while the most pessimistic scenario achieves emissions neutrality after 24 years.

To summarise, the extent of the GHG value of building a new rail line depends on a combination of topological considerations and infrastructural decisions, the level of operational efficiency of the train, load factors and electricity mixes and, most of all, the total volume of passengers or freight shifted to rail. Under favourable conditions, rail can deliver important GHG emission savings by shifting traffic away from passenger cars, trucks and planes. Many other considerations need to be taken into account, such as the impact on air quality (especially in urban areas), the value of reduced road congestion, savings in travel time and noise. Another caveat is that this analysis does not attempt to evaluate the potential for and value of efficiency increases in electric vehicles in other transport modes or the impact of vehicle sharing.

40 Estimation based on average national freight volumes by mode in (IEA, 2018a). This 50 million tonnes is about equivalent to 5% of the total annual freight transported by rail in a large country such as India or Russia.