As seen from the perspective of the society we live in, it can be argued that rail offers solutions to cope with the mobility and transport challenges in the future. Rail has lower impact on climate and environment than most other transport modes. Besides, today´s consumer has much higher expectations. In this respect, the railway is at an advantage as well since it brings people to work and back, along with the increasing level of quality and production time, reliable mobility and transportation and reduces the negative impact on the environment. Travelling by train gives passengers the chance to spend quality time - to work, rest, sleep, read a book, or simply spend time with their family and friends. Apart from being the safest mode of transport, rail relieves roads, reduces congestions and focuses on the importance of utilizing integrated rail system and other modes of transport.
Railway and atmosphere
According to the International Union of Railways (UIC), railway is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly ways to move people and goods. It has a tremendous potential to reduce the impact of greenhouse gases on the environment and improve the quality of living for the citizens, which is substantiated by the fact that the rail sector agreed on a voluntary target for 2020 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30%, which is shown in Figure 1.
No other major transport mode can boast energy efficiency similar to that of rail transport. Moreover, rail is the only mode that has decreased its share of CO2 emissions since 1990, whereas all other motorised transport modes have increased their share. Besides, about 80% of the European rail fleet runs on electric power, meaning most trains can switch to clean electricity when it becomes available.
According to data from 2005, as shown in Figure 2, road traffic accounts for 72% of CO2 emissions in the EU. In contrast, rail accounts for just 1.6% of CO2 emissions, while it transports 6% of all passengers and 10.3% of all freight. This is a clear indicator that railways can do more for less. A modal shift from road and air towards rail is one obvious way to reduce CO2 emissions. Railways and public transport are the backbone of any sustainable transport system. Hence, there is no good reason for not taking advantage of the potential benefits of rail transport now, including vastly lower energy consumption and environmental impact, plus enhanced economic performance and competitiveness.
In order to keep pace with the changes in the EU, environmental protection on the part of railways includes the following activities:
• drafting of a regulatory framework and its compliance with laws and regulations
• follow-up as to implementation of regulations on the railway
• drafting of technical and technological projects for refurbishment of the existing facilities and building new facilities within which the level of environmental protection will be increased
• improvement of practices regarding the management of waste produced in technological processes
• drafting of surveys and elaborations on environmental protection
• quality system implementation for the environmental protection sector (ISO Standards).
The targets of environmental protection are equally evaluated with other development targets and the contribution to environmental protection is an important integral part of comparative advantages. The targets of environmental protection are as follows:
• to improve the quality of transport service in order to reduce the existing or potential negative impact on the environment to the least possible extent (waste water treatment, safe disposal of hazardous materials, as well as noise control)
• to apply precautionary approaches (environmental analysis for each new project)
• to reduce potable water consumption, achieved by more rational exploitation of water resources, as well as water network repair works and refurbishment
• to reduce energy consumption of any kind, particularly operating energy for locomotives, as well as consumption of fossil fuel through electrification of railway lines
• to promote the utilization of the railway for the purpose of increasing the volume of passenger and freight transports by highlighting its comparative advantages and principles of sustainable transport
• to train employees, to assume responsibility for the environment, and to monitor business activities on a regular basis.
