By ROGER FORD
Informed Sources
Among all the contributions to the decarbonisation session at the Railway Industry Association’s 2021 Innovation Conference, two stood out.
One speaker claimed there was a legal obligation for diesel traction to be withdrawn by 2040. This is untrue. What we have is an aspiration from a here-today/gone-tomorrow junior transport minister to withdraw all ‘diesel-only’ trains by an arbitrary date. It is described as an ‘ambition’ in the recent Williams-Shapps White Paper.
