Sustainability
14. 07. 2020
CO2 emissions and harmful exhaust fumes are probably the first things that come to mind when most of us hear the word transport. However, environmentally friendly rail transport reduces CO2 emissions. This means every tonne transported by rail instead of by road cuts down on the amount of CO2 that gets pumped into the air.
ÖBB freight transport in Austria runs 100% on green traction current, and this makes it many times more climate friendly than trucks. It also saves almost one million tonnes of CO2 a year compared to road transport. The latest EcoTransIT World* calculations show how much is saved in each of the Federal States.
Every one of the nine Federal States does a great job to reduce Austria’s carbon footprint.
Wood and agricultural transport saves around 260,000 tonnes of CO2 in Lower Austria, Carinthia and Burgenland every year.
As a crucial location for industry and with the transport of resources like steel and wood, about 150,000 tonnes of CO2 a year are saved in Upper Austria alone.
Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna emit over 260,000 tonnes less CO2 than road transport.
More than 275,000 tonnes of CO2 were saved in Salzburg and Styria last year. Between them, these two States have over 168 industrial sidings that connect businesses with the rail network and make a significant contribution to protecting the climate.
These figures include shipments transported from/into the respective federal state or within the respective federal state. The amount of CO2 that was saved by Austria as a transit country was not included in this calculation.
Thanks to the contribution of each of the Federal States, Austria is at the top of the league in Europe when it comes to saving CO2 emissions. After all, rail freight transport is here to reach not only Austrian, but also the European climate and environmental targets. The trans-European initiative “Rail Freight Forward” was founded to protect the environment and achieve the climate targets established in the 2016 Paris Agreement. Rail Freight Forward (RFF) is a coalition of European rail freight companies that are committed to drastically reducing the negative impact of freight transport on our planet. Rail freight transport plays a crucial role in overcoming the challenges of climate change. The transport sector is one of the biggest sources of CO2 pollution and the greenhouse effect. Shifting freight transport to rail is the fastest and most efficient way to combat ever-increasing CO2 emissions and environmental pollution.
