Air quality law 'will seriously damage rail industry'

An air quality law is likely to cause serious damage to the rail freight industry, it has been suggested.

According to the Freight Transport Association (FTA), the Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) Directive, which will come into force by the end of 2011, could have a huge impact on the freight industry.

The FTA said that the standards which the new environmental legislation will set will mean that many locomotive vehicles will "evaporate".

Rail freight policy manager for the FTA Chris MacRae said that the NRMM Directive will "require new build or re-engined locomotives to be fitted with a power unit that doesn't currently exist".

He stated that all trains will have to be fixed with larger cooler systems, which could be difficult to fit into existing train designs.

This will have a particular effect on Class 66 locomotives, Mr MacRae added, which are used for moving 95 per cent of UK rail freight.

Ed Dearnly, policy officer at Environmental Protection UK, recently suggested that more needed to be done to make people aware about poor air quality as the result of transport emissions.

Posted by Joseph Hutton