Putting sustainability and social value ‘front and centre’

With us for this episode is Rachael Everard, our Director of Sustainable Development at RSSB. 

We explore some of the sustainability challenges the industry is up against and how we’re planning to help overcome those. We also revisit the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, showcasing some positive member stories from its implementation. 

Find out more at: https://www.rssb.co.uk/sustainability/

Transcript

Host [00.16]: Right now, the UK rail industry has both immense opportunities and significant hurdles in its journey towards a truly sustainable future. 

Environmentally, while it’s already one of the most carbon-efficient modes of transport, the sector must accelerate decarbonisation through widespread electrification, adoption of alternative fuels, and improved energy efficiency. To achieve this, we must lean into technical innovation, reduce our operating costs, and find ways to enhance our competitiveness against other transport options. 

And from a social value perspective, rail has long held a crucial role in connecting communities, fostering economic growth, and promoting social mobility. We still need to focus on these, of course, but there are other challenges, too. We need to make sure that rail travel remains affordable and accessible for all, delivering tangible benefits that go beyond just economic returns. 

So, with us today is Rachael Everard, our Director of Sustainable Development. In this episode, we’ll explore some of the sustainability challenges the industry is up against and how we’re planning to help overcome those. We’ll also visit the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, showcasing some positive member stories from its implementation.

Hi, Rachael, and thank you for joining us today.

Rachael Everard [01.42]: Hi, Sarah, thank you.

Host [01.44]: I'd love to start by getting into the current sustainability challenges facing the rail industry. Could you go over some of the main ones for us?

Rachael [01.53]:  So, I think the main challenges facing rail today are really around how we navigate through industry reform and change and use that as an opportunity to embed sustainability right into the heart of the sector.

I'm pretty new to rail. I only joined RSSB and the industry at the start of this year, joining from aviation, and I've seen, you know, I've been so impressed and so galvanised by the enthusiasm and the energy and the appetite for sustainability across the whole sector that I really feel that right now we have this fantastic opportunity to put sustainability at the heart of what we stand for. 

It already largely is. The reason I joined rail was because of the role that it plays in modern society. From my day-to-day commuting to how I connect with friends and family, I just saw this fantastic opportunity to put sustainability front and centre and to really deliver what rail already does for society, but to think about that from a broader eco-, environmental, and social impact and look to maximise that.

Host [02.58]: I'd like to pick up on that value to society angle a bit more actually, as it's key to ensuring longevity for rail. What challenges are there in this area?

Rachael [03.09]: Rail already provides fantastic value to society by connecting people and goods in a way that no other surface transport does. But I think what we have is challenge around articulating that, perhaps, and in really identifying means of demonstrating that value. 

People are often frustrated sometimes by rail or by how it impacts their day-to-day lives, whether it's train delays or the the cost of a ticket. But actually, it it really does bring a value to society through jobs creation, through economic growth, and through empowerment and accessibility that is unrefuted by other sectors. And so I think the challenge that we face is finding ways to articulate and demonstrate that in a meaningful and consistent way.

Host [03.57]: That's great, thanks. We have a number of solutions to these challenges outlined in our Annual Business Plan for 2025 to 2026. Could you please talk about some of these? Shall we start with our plan to deliver a collaborative social sustainability programme?

Rachael [04.16]: We have a business commitment to deliver a million pounds worth of social value for the year. And we're planning to do that through our education outreach partnerships.

So, we partner with a number of organisations that are experts in the field of young persons' engagement and educational outreach. We partner with them to deliver bespoke programmes for sustainability and for rail. And we invite in industry members to maximise their impact and really get into the communities, support schoolchildren in understanding what potential career pathways there are in sustainability and specifically within rail, and to really explore what that might mean in practice and in principle.

Host [04.54]: That sounds incredibly valuable. Now, switching gears a little, what about our work in air quality improvement? How are we tracking that, and what are we doing next?

Rachael [05.05]: So, RSSB runs the Air Quality Monitoring Network, which is a nationwide programme for measuring air quality at stations. It provides us with really valuable insights into the level of pollutants that may be present on platforms, concourses, bridges, other parts of the station where the public may be moving through when they're travelling. And that gives us and the organisations that we work with, including station operators and TOCs, insights into where they can and should be taking action to improve air quality.

We're continuing to actively monitor air quality levels at a number of stations nationwide. But we're also looking at how we can measure air quality on-board trains and other areas where people, members of the public and passengers, may be exposed to air quality levels so that we can help industry identify where we should be taking action to improve air quality.

Host [05.57]: Thanks Rachel, that's really useful. And of course, to help guide all of this work, we have the Sustainable Rail Blueprint, which I think is now in its second year. Have there been any challenges in implementing the Blueprint at all?

Rachael [06.12]: The Blueprint itself was published in 2023, so you're right, it's now 2 years old. And it's been really well received by industry. We've seen a number of organisations lift and shift it almost directly or take aspects of the Blueprint that work best for their organisation and use it to inform their own plans and strategy, which is fantastic.

Now that it is almost 2 years old, I believe the time is right for us to take another look at that. Over the course of the next few months, my team and I will be collating a progress review, so where has industry really excelled and succeeded in implementation of the Blueprint, but where are there also some areas where we do need to really concentrate efforts over the next few years to help us move forward?

We'll also be looking at where organisations have been implementing the Blueprint and perhaps their own policies or strategies or approaches have changed slightly from when that was first drafted, and we need to reflect those changes.

Host [07.05]: Wonderful, thank you. Do you have any positive stories from members who have adopted and implemented elements of the Blueprint?

Rachael [07.13]: Well, very recently, we saw Network Rail produce their new sustainability strategies, their greener rail strategy, and it was fantastic to see the Blueprint right at the heart of that strategy, including the use of iconography to demonstrate where different aspects of Network Rail's strategy is fully aligned with the Blueprint. And I think that's just one example of where we're seeing organisations using the Blueprint to frame their own thinking to make this a reality for the whole sector.

Host [07.40]: Brilliant. It's so nice to hear those stories and know the good the Blueprint is doing across the industry. And I understand work is happening to transition to the next phase of the Blueprint. What does that look like?

Rachael [07.53]: For me, the Blueprint itself, it needs to be a living framework that really reflects the reality of what is happening in industry today and also where government policy is leading us. 

So, we are looking at making some minor revisions to the Blueprint over the course of the next few months, looking at how we make sure it remains completely aligned with strategic direction, policy, and the structure of the industry.

So, at the moment, we are collating a bit of a progress report, trying to understand exactly where industry has moved forward, whether it's through RSSB tools and programmes or whether it's through some of the work of our working groups across the breadth of the Blueprint and sustainability, and collating that into a progress report that will outline our successes and also outline some of the areas that may need a little bit more focus going forward over the next few years.

Host [08.45]: Lovely, thanks Rachel. And finally, then, if you could share one piece of advice with an organisation looking to up their sustainability game, what would it be?

Rachael [08.56]: I think, ultimately, what we need to build is a greater understanding of what sustainability is and what it means for the rail industry. 

RSSB has some fantastic resources to help any organisation in the industry do that, whether it's our Realising Sustainable Rail e-learning course, which is a bite-sized snapshot into the Blueprint and all it stands for, or our more targeted executive leadership training course on sustainability. All of these can play a really important role in helping us to collectively understand what sustainability means, but most importantly, what we can all do to help drive us forward.

Host [09.31]:  Rachel, thank you so much for joining us today. And thank you for listening. 

If you want to learn more about how RSSB is supporting industry in adding value to society and sustainability, please visit our website.

We look forward to joining you for the next episode, and in the meantime, safe travels.