Eurostar has been working in the background and has announced a goal it wishes to meet – ensuring the power its trains draw in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK will run off 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Channel Tunnel Eurostar Trains at St Pancras International – Image, Economy Class and Beyond.
It comes as the train operator releases its first sustainability report, and as it sets how it will meet this target. This is broken into three major points
- Reducing its impact by sourcing renewable energies for its traction needs and reducing its energy requirements. For example, through its Memorandum of Understanding signed with Infrabel in February 2024 to study the installation of novel solar projects to power trains.
- Integrating circularity throughout the value chain, i.e. from production to end-of-life, to minimize waste and use resources more efficiently. For instance, every on-board dish is thoughtfully curated with sustainable sourcing and environmentally friendly options in mind. These efforts have already been rewarded as Eurostar received a three-star rating from the Food Made Good Awards for its on-board catering offer.
- Attracting more passengers to its low-carbon service by continuing to develop “open hubs”, to connect Eurostar services to domestic networks or long-haul flights, for example through its air-rail partnership with KLM.
To help meet its goal of 100% renewable power, Eurostar recently joined the RE100 alliance with companies committed to sourcing 100% of their energy from renewable sources.
In Quotes
Eurostar CEO Gwendoline Cazenave said:
This is a deliberately ambitious target, Eurostar wants to use its brand and commitment to accelerate change across the sector,”
“To achieve our goal, we work closely together with our partners in each of our markets, we encourage regulatory support for the rapid deployment of new renewable energy projects.”
In regards to joining the RE100 alliance, they add:
“Today, the transport sector accounts for 25% of European greenhouse gas emissions, making sustainable high-speed rail a key solution to a quarter of Europe’s climate problem”.
Ollie Wilson, Head of RE100, Climate Group: “
We’re delighted to welcome Eurostar to RE100, the first rail firm to join. Eurostar is setting a global example and leading the way on renewables powering our rail networks. Eurostar now has the opportunity to draw on a global network of over 400 companies as it works towards 30 million journeys a year powered by 100% renewable electricity by 2030. We encourage other businesses in the rail sector to follow Eurostar’s lead and commit to 100% renewable electricity.”
Progress so far
Currently, in the Netherlands, Eurostar trains have been running on 100% wind power since 2017, and this figure has reached 40% in the UK since 2023.
In Belgium, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Infrabel in February 2024 to study the installation of novel solar projects to power trains.
For those who fancy bedtime reading, the report is at https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/sustainability
A long way to go
It hasn’t helped that Eurostar has disposed of a lot of its older Channel Tunnel Fleet, which could be used to boost services across the network or has failed to invest in new capacity beyond the Europe-based PBA and PBKA fleets, which it could then funnel more passengers on to.
The goal of moving to 100% Renewal Electric is an admiral one, bearing in mind that electric rail travel has one of the lower carbon-footprint methods of travel (and I would love to see more Air-Rail partnerships on Eurostar, SNCF, DB and so on to drive passengers to the services).
The challenges for powering the existing fleet remain, as they tap the grids and its suppliers to meet the goal of renewable energy – but it is one the train company will have to meet to both meet its environmental and sustainability goals.
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