Railways Bill

Earl Russell Excerpts

Committee stage
Wednesday 16th September 2026 Grand Committee

We need binding targets for reducing emissions, a comprehensive assessment of climate risks, a prioritised programme of infrastructure improvements, funding arrangements, whole-life carbon assessment and annual reporting. GBR would also be required to operate consistently within the plan. I support Amendment 313 because it moves us in the right direction. We need to move from identifying what needs to be done to committing ourselves to doing it. This is the opportunity—let us all go green and build climate resilience and decarbonisation into the railway from the beginning, rather than leaving it for somebody else to do.

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, I apologise to the Committee for the fact that I was not able to attend Second Reading. It is always a pleasure to go after the noble Baroness. I will speak to my Amendments 93, 111 and 313, on which I have worked with Peers for the Planet. I thank the noble Baronesses, Lady Jones and Lady Willis of Summertown, for adding their names in support. I am also grateful to the Minister for taking the time to meet me prior to Committee.

These amendments seek to ensure that the railways deliver not only a modern and efficient railway, but one that is resilient to climate change, helping to meet our statutory environmental and net-zero duties. That need is underscored by events this summer. The UK endured one of its hottest and driest summers on record, with drought declared across much of England and Wales, and it has been one of the worst years on record for wildfires, which also significantly impacted our railway network. Persistent drought and heat caused many embankments to shrink, disturbing track geometry and creating growing derailment risks. We have seen emergency speed restrictions across the southern and eastern corridors affecting Greater Anglia, Great Northern, the Elizabeth line and Southern Railway, as well as two derailments within 24 hours during a recent heatwave, which Network Rail itself described as presenting “exceptional challenges”. By 1 July, Network Rail had already recorded 864 critical rail temperature speed restriction incident delays this year, more than in the whole of the previous year. Extreme weather accounted for 10% of delay minutes in 2024-25, with a 50% rise in adverse weather impacts over the last five years.

The Climate Change Committee warns that peak river flows could rise by 45%, while track buckling disruption could grow from roughly one day a year today to over 14 days a year under more extreme warming. This winter’s super El Niño is likely to bring worse storms, flooding and, next summer, further heat and increased wildfire risks. These are not future risks; they are happening now. We are not as prepared as we should be.

I turn to Amendment 93, which would require the Secretary of State, under Clause 15, to include measures to reduce a network’s carbon footprint and identify sections vulnerable to drought, flooding, heat and cold. It is a modest and targeted amendment. It does not prescribe engineering solutions, only that the strategy does what any prudent infrastructure owner should: assess vulnerability and plan for adaptation. Network Rail and GBR are already investing £2.6 billion in climate adaptation but, without a statutory requirement, these effects risk remaining fragmented and reactive. Scotland’s Climate Ready Infrastructure Forum and the Adaptation Pathways Programme show that structured planning can work. This amendment would embed that across England and Wales too.

Amendment 111 would require Great British Railways to take all reasonable steps to contribute to the Environment Act 2021 targets, the Climate Change Act’s carbon budgets and net-zero targets, the national adaptation programme and air quality targets. As the Minister has noted, environmental sustainability is already envisaged as a strategic objective and GBR must have regard to it. This amendment would simply make that duty explicit and actionable, tying GBR to targets that Parliament has already set, without imposing new ones.