How much diesel fuel is used on the rail network each year?

[mwmbwls]

The January 2018 issue of Rail Engineer contains an article outlining the science and economics of hydrogen as a fuel source for the railways. This is something the here today/possibly gone tomorrow Secretary of State for Transport has cited as the “next big thing” in justifying his decisions concerning railway electrification. The Rail Engineer article explains not only what reading the big thing is but also when the big thing might happen together with the limitations of the big thing.

One thing that struck me reading the article was the following equation:

“https://www.railengineer.uk/2018/01/05/hydrail-comes-of-age/

Pollutants from rail diesel traction may soon become increasingly unacceptable. In California, a study has shown that the nitrous oxide emissions from diesel locomotives hauling freight trains from the ports of Los Angeles is equal to that from all Southern California’s industrial plants. In the USA and Europe, emissions standards for railway diesel traction are more relaxed than those for lorries and buses on the basis that railway emissions are low per tonne hauled. This may change with increasing concern about total emissions.

For example, Canada’s fleet of 3,000 locomotives consumes two billion tonnes of diesel to produce six million tonnes of CO2 and 100 thousand tonnes of pollutants that are hazardous to health. This is one of the reasons why Transport Canada has funded a study into the feasibility of using Hydrail vehicles for commuter trains in Ottawa and Toronto”.

Can anybody cite the total tonnage of diesel fuel burnt per annum by the United Kingdom diesel powered fleet?

 

[InTheEastMids]

For the UK rail network overall, the official answer was 578000 tonnes in 2016.

https://www.gov.uk/government/stati...est-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Table 3.2 has the relevant number buried in it

 

[Taunton]

For example, Canada’s fleet of 3,000 locomotives consumes two billion tonnes of diesel to produce six million tonnes of CO2 and 100 thousand tonnes of pollutants

I think the highlighted bit of the report has the decimal point in the wrong place. I find it hard to believe that Canada's 3,000 locos (they don't do dmus) get through 2,000 TIMES as much total fuel as Britain's fleet does. Or to put it another way, that each loco individually gets through nearly as much as the total British rail usage.

If they have the starting figure wrong (I could believe million instead of billion; someone has possibly confused litres and tonnes) are the remainder wrong in proportion?

 

[InTheEastMids]

I think the highlighted bit of the report has the decimal point in the wrong place. I find it hard to believe that Canada's 3,000 locos (they don't do dmus) get through 2,000 TIMES as much total fuel as Britain's fleet does. Or to put it another way, that each loco individually gets through nearly as much as the total British rail usage.

If they have the starting figure wrong (I could believe million instead of billion; someone has possibly confused litres and tonnes) are the remainder wrong in proportion?

2 billion tonnes of fuel doesn't square with 6 million tonnes if CO2, so I think it's probably 2 million too

 

[edwin_m]

As a back of the envelope calculation:

A class 66 has 6400l of fuel capacity (Wikipedia, sub-class not specified) at a density of 0.832kg/l so carries about 5.3 tonnes of fuel. This will be enough for a day's intensive working so assume 150 fuellings per year for a well-used locomotive, at 5 tonnes each because the tank won't be taken right to empty and to make the sums easier. Thus one locomotive could use 750 tonnes of diesel per year. However it would be difficult to extrapolate this to the entire UK network as the figures for DMUs could be very different.

This figure is probably roughly true for Canada as well, because the engine power is about the same so the fuel consumption should also be similar. The fuel tank may be larger but fuelling would be correspondingly less frequent. As mentioned above DMU use in Canada is negligible. There may be a difference due to more intensive use, but if we ignore this and use the same figure across 3000 locomotives we get 2.25 million tonnes. This suggests that the figure quoted in #1 should indeed be 2 million not 2 billion.

 

[ac6000cw]

From Canadian Pacific Railway (one of the 'big two' Canadian railways) latest investor info, it used 236 million US gallons of diesel fuel in 2016, which weighs about 760,000 tonnes. Canadian National is a similar size, so their combined consumption plus Via Rail and the commuter rail operations is probably around the 2 million tonne mark.

Actual Canadian Pacific fuel usage/efficiency was just under 1 US gallon per 1000 gross ton-miles i.e. on average it used one gallon of diesel to move 1000 tons over one mile.

Info on page 127 of this document - http://s21.q4cdn.com/736796105/files/doc_downloads/fact-book/2017/CPR-FactBook-2017-Print.pdf

 

[Taunton]

A class 66 has 6400l of fuel capacity (Wikipedia, sub-class not specified) at a density of 0.832kg/l so carries about 5.3 tonnes of fuel.

I didn't want to get too much into the calculations because of THIS recent post # 50 in the thread about, of all things, pushchairs on trains

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/pushchairs-on-trains.158830/page-2#post-3270921

 

[DarloRich]

It wont be that much for network rail: 2x97 3 x hst 3x73 and an 08.

There is all the tampers, regulators, grinders, blowers and various wagon types with generators but even so

 

[Spartacus]

Of course Network Rail don't run any trains, so unless you count the road road/rail vehicle the answer's probably zero.

 

[D365]

Of course Network Rail don't run any trains...

and the infrastructure vehicles?

 

[mwmbwls]

Apologies for asking an ambiguous question. I really must apply a caffeine spanner to the bolt in my neck - first thing in the morning. I have restated the question.

 

[edwin_m]

I didn't want to get too much into the calculations because of THIS recent post # 50 in the thread about, of all things, pushchairs on trains

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/pushchairs-on-trains.158830/page-2#post-3270921

In that case I'm rather glad I didn't claim to know the fuel capacities of DMUs...

 

[Elecman]

and the infrastructure vehicles?

Network Rail is barred legally from operating any trains as it is not allowed a train operating liscence.

It owns the Infrastructure trains and Locos but the operations of them is all subcontracted to 3 rd parties who have operating liscences

 

[LLivery]

Network Rail is barred legally from operating any trains as it is not allowed a train operating liscence.

It owns the Infrastructure trains and Locos but the operations of them is all subcontracted to 3 rd parties who have operating liscences

The insanity of our railway structure in a nutshell...

 

[BigCj34]

It's a shame the addition of a pantograph carrying carriage was cancelled on the Voyagers. Is that an idea worth re-exploring or would there still be too much engineering required for what it is worth?

 

[D365]

... or would there still be too much engineering required for what it is worth?

Yes.!

 

[edwin_m]

I think there were practical problems with getting the high-current DC cables from the new transformer car to the existing traction packages on the other coaches. Also Bombardier wanted to use their own electrical kit rather than the Alstom equipment they used originally (before the ADtranz merger when they had no in-house capability). This would probably create more technical difficulties as well as the political one that the Alstom kit was UK-made and the Bombardier comes from Sweden.

With several years having passed, the remaining lifetime to recover the costs of something like this is that much less. There is also the risk that a future franchise will just buy new trains and send the Voyagers off lease, so whoever funded the mods would never get their money back. This risk has also increased as the cost of new trains has gone down and DfT has given more credit to new trains when evaluating franchise bids. So it's most unlikely that this would happen unless through the route of a new franchise bid or if DfT decided to make them franchise assets.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

It's a shame the addition of a pantograph carrying carriage was cancelled on the Voyagers. Is that an idea worth re-exploring or would there still be too much engineering required for what it is worth?

Far better to buy XC a uniform fleet of 7 car bi-mode IETs.

 

[BigCj34]

Far better to buy XC a uniform fleet of 7 car bi-mode IETs.

Will be interesting to see what the next government franchise has in store for Crosscountry then. Given that they are in the middle of their lifespan and have quite a few years left I wouldn't expect too many of them to have to be replaced with IET trains though.