Carbon footprint of new TGV lines under scrutiny[fr][de] 

"We have a political and legal mandate to calculate the CO2 emissions from transport, and thus from railways as well," said Sebastien Gourgouillat, sustainable development manager at Réseau Ferré de France (RFF) in a debate on the future of Europe's railways on 4 March.

He said that RFF, which owns and manages the French railway network, was currently developing a new system and technology to assess the life-cycle carbon footprint of new high speed lines (HSL). 

One such line currently in construction is the 425 km TGV Rhine-Rhone HSL , or more precisely its 190 km Eastern branch linking Dijon to Mulhouse via Besançon. The construction of the €2.31 billion Eastern line, due to enter commercial service by end 2011, is shared between the French state (€751 million), 17 local governments in the Franche-Comté, Bourgogne and Alsace regions (€653 million), RFF (€642 million), the EU (€198 million), and Switzerland (€66 million).

According to RFF, environmental concerns have been given due thought since the project started in 1993. But the new life-cycle study analysing the carbon footprint in all phases of the project - preliminary phase, construction and operations - is likely to give environmental considerations even more importance.

The study, Gourgouillat explained, takes account of the deforestation caused by the construction of the tracks as well as the incoming material needed for manufacturing and transportation of materials. The construction of new stations, track maintenance and operations such as weeding, energy consumption of trains and their emissions as well as waste are also taken into account. 

The final study will be published in June 2009.

"Deforestation is clearly the main suspect for emissions," Gourgouillat added, as around 40% of the Eastern line will pass through deep forests. Other main emissions culprits will be the necessary earthworks and land treatment before constructing the tracks as well as overall steel use, he added. Further emissions are caused by fuel consumption among others, he concluded.