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Report calls for coherent monitoring of
transport emissions so informed targets can be
set
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Recommends incentives for freight
deliveries outside peak hours
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Highlights potential to retrofit diesel
trains to cut emissions while trains are standing at
platforms
The UK needs to create a modern Clean Air Act, equivalent to the
one produced in the 1950s in response to London’s Great Smog, in
order reduce harmful emissions across the UK, according to a new
report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
With air pollution responsible for one in ten of all
deaths globally, the report calls for urgent action to tackle the
damage to health which these emissions can cause. Health problems
range from slowing the proper development of children’s lungs
through to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among the
elderly.
The report makes a number of recommendations,
including for the introduction of a coherent national scheme to
monitor emissions from different modes of transport so that
informed targets can be set, and for incentives to be introduced
to encourage freight deliveries outside of peak hours. The report
also contests that bi-mode trains do not produce the same
benefits for passengers as an electrified train network and calls
for Government to work with Network Rail to deliver the complete
electrification of the main rail lines between Britain’s
principal cities and ports.
The Clean Air Act needs to set out ways to help the
71% of local authorities which missed their 2017 air quality
targets. It must also have a broad scope which addresses
emissions from across all the UK’s transport modes. The UK must
take assess emerging technologies for carbon emissions throughout
the technology’s entire lifecycle, including the procurement of
parts and fuel. Electric vehicles, which produce lower emissions,
encounter challenges both at the start of production of their
battery cells and at the end of life, owing to issues such as the
economic viability of battery recycling.
Philippa Oldham, Lead Author of the report and Member
of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said:
“Individuals breathe in 20kg of air every day and
because we can’t see it, we don’t know about the harmful
particles it contains.
“Regular commuters encounter air pollution twice a
day up to 250 days a year. Even railway stations have relatively
high levels of air pollution from diesel. Major railway stations
with high numbers of diesel-operated trains include London
Marylebone, Birmingham (New Street and Snow Hill), Manchester
(Piccadilly and Victoria), Liverpool Lime Street, Sheffield,
Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff (Central and
Queen Street).
“While much of the media focus is on our capital, it
is worth noting that this is a serious problem that affects us
all. Different communities will require their own solutions; for
example, in cities outside London the proportion of public
transport is lower, so the proportion of emissions from diesel
and petrol cars is greater. In Manchester, 43% of emissions come
from cars and just 11% from buses.
“Technology has its part to play in addressing the
problem, but there is a role and responsibility for individuals
too.
“Back in the 1950s, doctors kick-started a national
movement on the risks of smoking; there is a need to start doing
the same with air quality, to encourage people to drive less and
use public transport, walk and cycle more.”
The Breath of fresh air: new solutions to
reduce transport emissions report recommends
that:
1.Government introduce a national monitoring system,
across the different types of transport, recording all types of
pollution, to create a coherent picture against which national
targets can be set.
2.Government to incentive cleaner technologies and
encourage the phase-out of legacy vehicles with poor emissions
record across the network (for example diesel cars and
trains).
3.Government to consider incentivising freight and
logistic operators to make deliveries outside peak
hours.
4.Conduct a series of trials on existing diesel
railway rolling stock, new bi-mode trains and in major stations,
to understand the level and effect of exposure to pollutants has
on commuters and railway workers.
5.Conduct a series of trials to understand the impact
on the individual of exposure to pollutants in overground and
underground railway stations, ports, airports and bus
stations.
6.Creates a positive and dynamic campaign that
informs the public of the health benefits of switching to
lower-emission modes of transport.
7.Government to work with Network Rail to deliver the
complete electrification of the main rail lines between Britain’s
principal cities and ports and in major urban rail
networks.
8.Fund research through the Clean Air Fund and
Innovate UK to create programmes to clean up various transport
modes.
