IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Foreword

Rail transport is often neglected in public debates about future transport systems. Maybe this is because rail transport dates back centuries and helped fuel the industrial revolution. And yet, despite the advent of cars and airplanes, rail of all types has continued to evolve and thrive.

In cities, metros and light rail offer reliable, affordable and fast alternatives to road transport, Page | 3 reducing congestion as well as local pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. High-speed rail provides a high-quality substitute for short-distance flights between major urban centres. Freight

rail offers a low-emissions and low-cost linkage in freight supply chains.

From an energy and emissions perspective, rail is also among the most energy-efficient and lowest-emitting transport modes. Despite the traffic it carries, rail consumes only 2% of total transport energy demand. Rail is also the transport sector that is most electrified: three-quarters of passenger movements and half of freight rely on electricity.

Urbanisation and digitalisation, among other megatrends, may redefine how energy is used in transport in the future. Rail has the opportunity to play an important role if it can leverage its unmatched advantages in moving people and goods along heavily utilised, high-demand routes. In doing so, it can provide substantial benefits for energy and the environment – by diversifying energy sources and providing more efficient mobility, rail can lower transport energy use and reduce carbon dioxide and local pollutant emissions. Rail’s benefits extend to economic and social realms: if well designed and operated, in the right contexts rail systems can be very competitive on the most important mobility service metrics: speed, convenience, reliability and price.

The report puts a particular focus on India, a country that joined the IEA family in 2017. India‘s achievements in the energy sector in recent years have been remarkable, including successfully bringing electricity to all the country’s villages and ramping up renewables deployment, demonstrating India’s commitment to advancing the critical role of energy for society and development.

I would like to extend my gratitude to India’s Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, and other partners in India for their contributions to ensuring that this report contributes relevant, concrete and actionable analysis on India’s ambitious railway plans. This report elaborates on the unique social and economic role of rail in India, where rail is sometimes referred to as the “lifeline of the nation”.

This report was prepared by the IEA in collaboration with many partners and experts, in particular the International Union of Railways. Importantly, it is the fourth in our series looking at what we see as the “blind spots” in global energy: segments of energy demand that deserve greater attention from policy makers. Previous studies in the series have focused on energy use in petrochemicals, air-conditioning and trucks. Given the scale of the environmental challenge and opportunities for social development of the global transport sector, and its important role for energy use, I sincerely hope that this report will provide meaningful input to the global debate.

Dr. Fatih Birol

Executive Director

International Energy Agency

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgements

The Future of Rail was prepared by the Energy Technology Policy (ETP) Division in the Directorate of Sustainability, Technology and Outlooks (STO) of the International Energy Agency (IEA), in collaboration with other divisions of the Agency and the International Union of Railways (UIC).

Mechthild Wörsdörfer, Director of STO, provided guidance throughout the project. The study was Page | 5 designed and directed by Timur Gül, Head of the Energy Technology Policy Division. Pierpaolo

Cazzola and Jacob Teter co-ordinated this project. The main contributors were Till Bunsen, Joel Dunant, Marine Gorner, Raphael Isaac, George Kamiya (Strategic Initiatives Office), Sacha Scheffer, Renske Schuitmaker and Jacopo Tattini. Carole Escolan Zeno co-ordinated the input of UIC. Caroline Abettan, Gillian Balitrand and Reka Koczka provided essential support.

Robert Priddle carried editorial responsibility.

The report benefited from input from Matteo Craglia (University of Cambridge), Jan Havenga (Stellenbosch University), Ilse Hobbs (Stellenbosch University), Liam Lukey (UIC), Sarbojit Pal (Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat), Jessica Glicker (IEA Energy Efficiency Division) and Siddarth Singh (IEA). Several in-depth interviews were conducted to obtain detailed information on specific topics. Valuable input was received from Aakansha Jain (The Energy and Resources Institute [TERI], India), Carlos Fernandez Alvarez (IEA Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division), Jan Havenga (Stellenbosch University), Karthik Ganesan (Council on Energy, Environment and Water, India), Laurent Dauby (International Association of Public Transport [UITP]), Ralph Luijt (NS [Dutch Railways]), Mukund Sinha (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs [MoHUA], India), Prashant Mishra (National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited [NHSRCL], India), Shri Prakash (TERI, India), Giulia Rado (Climate Bonds Initiative) and Zane Simpson (Stellenbosch University).

Valuable comments and feedback were provided by the senior management and several colleagues within the IEA, in particular, Paul Simons, Keisuke Sadamori, Laura Cozzi, Duncan Millard, David Turk, Laszlo Varro, Roberta Quadrelli, John Dulac, Paul Hugues, Bruce Murphy, Apostolos Petropoulos, Cedric Philibert and Tristan Stanley.

Thanks go to the IEA Communication and Digitalisation Office for their help in producing the final report, particularly to Astrid Dumond, Katie Lazaro and Therese Walsh for production and Bertrand Sadin for graphics. Diana Browne provided essential support to the peer review process. Debra Justus was the copy-editor.

Peer reviewers provided essential feedback to improve the quality of the report. They include: Aakansha Jain (TERI, India); Akos Érsek (International Union for Road-Rail Combined Transport [UIRR]); Alison Von Ketelhodt (Sasol); Andrea Staino (Alstom Transport); Andreas Hoffrichter (Michigan State University); Antonio Berrios Villalba (ADIF); Aurélien Bigo (SNCF); Carole Escolan Zeno (UIC); Chris Nash (University of Leeds); Ferenc Zsabo (Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Hungary); Francisco Furtado (International Transport Forum [ITF]); Fulai Sheng (United Nations [UN]); Gerald Kowalski (Alstom); Girish Pillai (Ministry of Railways, India); Glenn Sondak (IEA); Jan Havenga (Stellenbosch University); John Preston (University of Southampton); Laurent Dauby (UITP); Liam Lukey (UIC); Mark Schipper (Energy Information Administration); Matteo Prussi (Joint Research Centre); Matteo Craglia (University of Cambridge); Prashant Mishra (NHSRCL, India); Puneet Kamboj (Brookings India); Ralph Luijt (NS); Rudolph Sperlich (Swiss Federal Transport Office); Sarbojit Pal (Clean Energy Ministerial Secretariat); Shri Prakash (TERI, India); Sian Prout (European Commission); Tor Kartevold (Equinor) and Willie Pierce (Irish Rail).

The report benefited from the “Global Rail and Energy Workshop” organised by the IEA and the UIC on 24 September 2018 in Paris and attended by stakeholders from train manufacturers (Alstom); rail services operators (FS [Italian State Railways], JSC RZD [Russian Railways], Korail, SNCF [Société nationale des chemins de fer français], SNCB/NMBS [National Railway Company of

The Future of Rail

Opportunities for energy and the environment

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.