Branson unveils ‘green’ train

Travelling by rail may be a green form of transport but it could be even greener, as the maiden journey of Europe’s first biodiesel train set out to demonstrate yesterday.

The Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson launched the service, which runs on a partly blended biofuel, to haul a trial group of passengers, including the prime-minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, from London Euston to Llandudno in north Wales.
The 11.27am Virgin Voyager, running on a fuel mix which was 20 per cent biodiesel, made from rapeseed, soyabean and palm oil, may be the start of a new trend in rail transport in Britain. If the six-month trial is successful, Sir Richard hopes to extend biofuels to all the Virgin train fleet and make a significant reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike the fossil fuels coal, oil and gas, biofuels do not add to the world’s net carbon dioxide emissions when they are burnt, because they are returning to the atmosphere carbon absorbed from it when the plants that were the source for the fuel were growing.

Sir Richard said: “If… we can convert our Voyager fleet to run on B20 biodiesel, we could cut our CO2 emissions by up to 14 per cent. This means 34,500 tonnes less CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere each year, and is equivalent to taking 23,000 cars off the road.”

Independent/Climate Ark