On the right track: The greening of public transport

Simply getting more people to use public transport instead of private cars will be a win in the battle against climate change but Ireland’s public transport system is striving to become more sustainable in and of itself.

The transition to a zero-carbon transport system will include electric buses and trains, and potentially hydrogen-fuelled buses and trains, as the public sector leads by example when it comes to making the switch from fossil fuels.

Significant progress has been made, says Barry Kenny, corporate communications manager at Irish Rail. Kenny notes that 2020 targets for a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions were met by the rail network back in 2015. “And that was at a time when we had expanding services.”

A new fleet of trains compliant with the latest EU standards was acquired in the early 2010s — these are diesel-powered but more efficient and environmentally-friendly than their smoky predecessors. Methods of eco-efficient driving are also being deployed as a matter of priority.

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We are targeting 80 million journeys a year by the end of the decade compared to a pre=Covid high of 50.1 million

“So public transport as it stands has sustainability in its DNA and we are not going to rest on our laurels,” Kenny says. “There are reasonable expectations from our customers and stakeholders and ourselves to accelerate this move towards sustainability.”

This includes continuing network electrification, mainly via the Dart+ programme, which is now in detailed planning for all phases. This will see the Dart expand to Drogheda, Maynooth and Hazelhatch. “When it is completed, 80 per cent of rail journeys in Ireland will be powered by electricity,” Kenny notes. As part of these initiatives, stations, depots and facilities are also getting a sustainability makeover, modernising them to ensure they are energy efficient, he adds.

All of this aligns in with the National Sustainable Mobility Policy, which has set out a strategic framework to 2030 for active travel — walking and cycling — and increased public transport journeys to help Ireland meet its climate obligations. Its accompanying action plan includes goals to improve and expand sustainable mobility options across the country by providing “safe, green, accessible and efficient alternatives” to car journeys.

The policy is nothing short of ambitious, aiming to deliver at least 500,000 additional daily active travel and public transport journeys by 2030 and a 10 per cent reduction in the number of kilometres driven by fossil fuelled cars.

Kenny says there is “confidence” these targets can be met, given the investment in public transport that will take place. “We are targeting 80 million journeys a year by the end of the decade compared to a pre=Covid high of 50.1 million,” he says. “We are also instituting active travel hubs at our stations so there is effectively a seamless end to end journey between active travel and other transport modes. There is a real momentum in terms of the type of policy and investment support available for these initiatives.”

There is no silver bullet for decarbonising the public transport network and ensuring it meets the growing demands of an increasing population

When it comes to public transport, buses are by far the most popular option, accounting for two-thirds of public transport trips. Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus are now undergoing a significant transformation. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has already begun the transition of the fleet to zero emissions and recently announced an order for 120 battery electric buses as part of a bigger procurement of 800 vehicles over a five-year period.

As they incorporate a fully battery-electric power-train, this means zero tailpipe-emissions, and should lead to a substantial improvement in air quality in the cities and towns in which they are deployed. Athlone is set to become the first fully electric bus town service in Ireland and the hope, Kenny says, is that this will be rolled out to other towns and cities.

According to Caoimhe Donnelly, chief sustainability officer with CIE, while the focus is currently on battery electric vehicles, in the longer-term, hydrogen-fuelled vehicles could provide part of the solution towards the decarbonisation of public transport. She explains that while electric buses will hopefully form the solution for urban bus services, there is a distinct need for alternative technologies on the intercity routes as electrification will not be able to meet the inherent demands of longer journeys.

“The NTA strategy is electrification for city uses in Dublin and the regional towns but with intercity routes, you would be looking at buses with huge batteries and thus issues like capacity constraints,” Donnelly explains. That means in the future there may be scope for an alternative or complementary technology such as hydrogen, she says. “We are preparing for this and working with partners to facilitate entering into trials of such a vehicle and begin to understand its potential. A prototype for our market will become available in the coming years.”

Biomethane as a fuel may also play a role, and there are other nascent technologies that have yet to be explored. CIE and Bus Éireann are also exploring a potential trial of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) in 2023. “I had a conversation with Network Rail in Britain recently and they are beginning to look into ammonia as a potential traction technology but we are not there yet,” Donnelly adds.

There is no silver bullet for decarbonising the public transport network and ensuring it meets the growing demands of an increasing population, admits Donnelly, who says the solution will most likely include vehicles powered in a number of different ways. “We need a diverse array of energy sources in order to have a resilient network.”

Not to be forgotten, taxi services are an integral component of the public transport network. Facilitating sustainable approaches to transport is a key focus for Free Now, says Fiona Brady, Head of Operations and Public Affairs at Free Now Ireland. “We support the government’s multifaceted approach to affect much-needed change in the provision and uptake of sustainable and accessible transport options across Ireland. We are committed to enabling passengers to make smart and sustainable transport decisions as part of the national effort to build a greener transport infrastructure,” Brady says.

Free Now has ambitious targets to be the first mobility platform in Europe to reach net-zero emissions by 2030. “The first milestone in this journey is to have 50 per cent fully electric rides and we have put a number of measures in place to help us achieve this target. Supporting drivers to make the switch to electric is a key focus for us,” Brady says.

The company has allocated more than €100 million of resources in the coming five years to support the electrification of taxis, including the launch of an EV home charging fund for taxi drivers totalling €6 million, offering every driver who successfully avails of the SEAI (Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland) Home Charging Grant Scheme an opportunity to save an additional €600. “This essentially ensures that drivers can obtain a free home charging unit.”

Since the beginning of 2022, Free Now has added 600 EVs to its fleet; a third of vehicles available on the app are now electric or hybrid. Its ECO booking option, which allows passengers to book an electric or hybrid vehicle at no extra cost, has been extremely popular, Brady says.

“We initially launched the ECO booking option in Dublin in September 2020 and in September of 2021 we expanded regionally across Limerick, Galway and Cork due to rising consumer demand,” she explains. “Since the launch of the ECO booking option in September 2020 we have seen demand rise for this option by 600 per cent reflecting the growing emphasis on sustainable transport options by our passengers.”