We connect people and provide customers with a rail service across the North of England and into Scotland – and we do so by delivering a low-carbon travel option for our customer journeys. We are constantly improving our environmental performance. In 2023/24 we achieved a 19 per cent reduction in carbon emissions per vehicle kilometre compared to our baseline year of 2019/20. Our Nova train fleet, which includes bi-mode and electric trains, helps reduce passengers’ carbon dioxide emissions by 77 per cent compared to travelling by an average car.
Through our Carbon and Air pillar of our Sustainability Strategy, we are working to reduce our carbon impact further. In 2023/24, we had our near-term science-based targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. We have committed to reducing our absolute scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 54.6% by FY2032 from our baseline year of FY2019. We have also committed to having 67.08% of our suppliers by emissions covering purchased goods and services and capital goods will have science-based targets by FY2027. Our Road to Net Zero decarbonisation roadmap outlines that actions we will take to progress towards reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
We have a critical role in helping the UK achieve challenging decarbonisation targets. As a responsible train operator, we have clear goals for managing and reducing our carbon impact. In building back services, we continue to promote train travel and track the total distance we carry our passengers with our number of passengers per kilometre travelled metric.
Despite an increase in distance travelled compared to last year, our carbon emissions per mile have been reduced through increased electric miles. Our Nova 1 bi-mode trains use diesel when there are no wires but can run on electricity when running electrified lines. We run on many partially electrified routes, which means we can make part of these journeys using electricity, which has a significantly lower carbon impact than diesel, and through the Transpennine Route Upgrade, we will be able to run on even more electric miles in the future.
What we are measured on:
Our Energy and Environmental Management Systems continue to be certified to ISO 50001 and ISO 14001. Our energy use can be broken down into “traction” and “non-traction”. Traction refers to the energy consumed to drive our trains, which is our main operation. Non-traction includes the energy to light, power and heat our stations and offices. During 2023/24 our ISO 14001 environmental management system was recertified by BSi. Our ISO 50001 energy management system is due to be recertified in 2024/25.
Our recycling rate has dropped from 65% to 55% over the financial year, with this rate correlating to the external impacts of market changes within the waste sector, seeing more of our waste directed to energy recovery processes because of the energy crisis. However, we continue to segregate waste on-site at Hull Paragon Station, and continue to send zero general waste to landfill. We have installed coffee cup recycling bins as a trial at Scarborough, Cleethorpes, and Hull stations.
During 2023/24 we undertook a landscape improvement project at Thirsk Station and have delivered 830m² of grassland with the creation of a new wildflower meadow, 90m of new native hedgerow, 7 new native tree species and 175m² of new native scrub. This landscaping project supports our Sustainability Strategy Good for Nature goal and increases biodiversity within the local community.
Our scope one and two carbon footprint in the 2023/24 financial year was 79,753 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent). 89 per cent of our scope one and two emissions comes from diesel consumed by our trains and a further 10 per cent from our electric trains.
In 2023/2024, we continued to measure our scope three carbon impact to assess our total carbon footprint in line with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which shows that 37 per cent of our total carbon impact is from scope one emissions (the fuel we consume); 5 per cent is from scope two emissions (electricity we consume); and 58 per cent of our emissions comes from scope three (indirect emissions that occur from our value chain both upstream and downstream).
Our traction energy and diesel consumption are metered and provided by Network Rail and the depots where we refuel the trains. Groundwork Sustainable Business Services consultants continue to independently verify our annual scope one, two and three carbon footprints through an audit process that covers a partial assurance scope.
The 2023/24 financial year showed a ten per cent reduction in our scope one and two carbon footprint against our Science-Based Targets baseline year of 2019/2020.
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