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Accelerating decarbonisation in Australia’s rollingstock supply chain
At a glance
For Australia to achieve net zero by 2050, there is an urgent need for a national rollingstock decarbonisation strategy to decarbonise the rail sector. We collaborated with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) to develop a critical pathway for stakeholders to follow that would accelerate rollingstock decarbonisation efforts.
For Australia to achieve net zero by 2050, there is an urgent need for a national rollingstock decarbonisation strategy to decarbonise the rail sector. We collaborated with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) to develop a critical pathway for stakeholders to follow that would accelerate rollingstock decarbonisation efforts.
The challenge
The decarbonisation of Australia’s rollingstock supply chain is a matter of great urgency. About half of the country’s rollingstock are due to be replaced in the next 8 to 13 years, and the replacement rollingstock are expected to be in use well beyond 2050. The next generation of rollingstock will need to harness low and zero emissions technologies for the rail industry to keep in step with the country’s goal of achieving net zero by 2050.
We were engaged by the ARA to develop a rollingstock decarbonisation pathway that outlines how the rail industry will phase out its use of diesel-powered rollingstock. The project aimed to identify the requirements, timeframes and collaboration opportunities between industry and government to accelerate progress towards rail decarbonisation.
Our response
We approached the project with a whole-systems outlook and worked closely with the ARA, its working groups and government stakeholders to co-create a holistic, collaborative strategy. This strategy involved three stages: desktop analysis and discussion paper preparation, workshops and stakeholder engagement, and critical path report preparation and publication.
Desktop analysis and discussion paper preparation
We used information from published studies to estimate the number of diesel-powered locomotives currently in operation. This helped establish the scale of decarbonisation efforts.
We collated data on rollingstock decarbonisation trials and technologies and conducted an initial assessment of the likely suitability of technologies, including:
- Energy efficiency and productivity measures
- Low carbon fuels
- Alternative propulsion
- Electrification
These potential technology solutions have implications for policies and regulatory frameworks, financing mechanisms, supporting infrastructure, labour skills development and supply chain capabilities that would need to be addressed.
We identified significant opportunities and challenges the rail industry may face and considered learnings from overseas rollingstock decarbonisation strategies.
These findings were then synthesised in a discussion paper to support workshops with ARA working groups and engagement with key stakeholders.
Workshops and stakeholder engagement
We held workshops with ARA working groups and relevant stakeholder engagement sessions to identify related decarbonisation initiatives and discuss challenges and opportunities presented by the team’s findings. Working group members were surveyed on the importance of specific policies and actions that would support rail decarbonisation. Alongside the working groups, consulting government agencies provided feedback and advice to inform the development of the critical path report.
Critical path report preparation and publication
We integrated information from the workshop and stakeholder engagement sessions for the initial draft of the rollingstock decarbonisation critical path report, including a supply chain capability framework. ARA working groups shared their perspectives through follow-up workshops and deliberations to help prepare the final draft of the critical path report.
The impact
Our collaboration with the ARA led to ‘The critical path to decarbonise Australia’s rail rollingstock’ report, presenting a clear and comprehensive understanding of the priority actions and challenges that need to be addressed over the next five years. It provides direction for all stakeholders to support rail decarbonisation and Australia’s transition to net zero.
The report identified a range of challenges for stakeholders to overcome, including:
- Regulation and government policy consistency
- Industry coordination and collaboration
- Asset investment lifecycle
- Technology readiness and availability
- Access to supporting infrastructure and renewable energy
- Certainty in investment
- Supply chain capability and skills
- Compatibility with existing infrastructure
The report recommends eight critical path priorities to overcome these challenges and accelerate rollingstock decarbonisation.
- Shared vision and long-term plan: Establish a shared vision between government and industry for rollingstock decarbonisation and outline a long-term strategy for the transition process.
- Fit-for-purpose regulatory frameworks: Establish policy and regulatory frameworks that are fit for purpose to support the transition.
- Financing the transition: Secure and coordinate public and private sector investment to finance the transition.
- Early emission reductions using available technologies: Leverage available technologies to achieve early emission reductions.
- Research, trial and demonstrations: Collaboratively research, develop, trial and demonstrate low and zero emission technologies for Australian rail.
- Enabling infrastructure: Assess, develop and increase access to appropriate rail and energy infrastructure to support the transition.
- Education and information sharing: Support technology assessments and decision making through information sharing.
- Performance measurement and tracking: Establish evidence-based performance measurement to track progress being made and support forward planning.
With a critical pathway outlined, both government and industry can move forward together with confidence to boost the decarbonisation of Australia’s rollingstock supply chain and help meet the country’s goal of net zero emissions by 2050.