Branson unveils 'green' train that could slash rail's carbon footprint industry emissions

Travelling by rail may be a green form of transport but it could be even greener, as the maiden journey of Europe's first biodiesel train set out to demonstrate yesterday.

The Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson launched the service, which runs on a partly blended biofuel, to haul a trial group of passengers, including the prime-minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, from London Euston to Llandudno in north Wales.

The 11.27am Virgin Voyager, running on a fuel mix which was 20 per cent biodiesel, made from rapeseed, soyabean and palm oil, may be the start of a new trend in rail transport in Britain. If the six-month trial is successful, Sir Richard hopes to extend biofuels to all the Virgin train fleet and make a significant reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions.

Unlike the fossil fuels coal, oil and gas, biofuels do not add to the world's net carbon dioxide emissions when they are burnt, because they are returning to the atmosphere carbon absorbed from it when the plants that were the source for the fuel were growing.

Sir Richard said: "If... we can convert our Voyager fleet to run on B20 biodiesel, we could cut our CO2 emissions by up to 14 per cent. This means 34,500 tonnes less CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere each year, and is equivalent to taking 23,000 cars off the road."

He said the company was starting with a 20 per cent biodiesel blend and hoped to increase it to 100 per cent in the future, which would be the equivalent of taking 100,000 cars off the road.

The trial, jointly run by Virgin, the Association of Train Operating Companies and the Rail Safety and Standards Board to find a sustainable fuel for the rail network, will run across much of Britain, from Birmingham to Scotland, in south Wales, north-east England, the North-west, the West Country, the South-west and the South Coast. It will require special fuelling points, the first of which have been installed at Barton-under-Needwood in Staffordshire and Crofton in West Yorkshire.

Virgin has a special concession which means that the company is only paying 7p a litre in tax to use the biodiesel rather than the normal 54p a litre. Before travelling on the train with Mr Brown, Sir Richard called for a general reduction in tax on clean fuels.

When asked about the tax position, Mr Brown (who got off the train at Chester) replied: "If this scheme works well we are prepared to look at other things. We are prepared to look at what could be done in the future. We have to prove that this works. If it works I want other train companies to consider using biodiesel."

Mr Brown said he was delighted with the initiative. "I want Britain to be a world leader in the development and use of environmentally friendly fuels," he said, "and I believe they will play a fundamental part in our efforts to reduce emissions and tackle climate change."

Sir Richard said "It's fantastic that we are leading the rest of Europe in developing this fuel."

However, the enthusiasm of some environmentalists for biofuels is tempered by the fact that growing the crops to make them on a very large scale may involve its own set of environmental problems.

Ed Matthew, biofuels campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: "Rail travel is already a greener alternative to short-haul flights, but it's good that companies like Virgin Rail are looking at ways to cut the climate impact of their activities.

"Biofuels can play a small but useful role in tackling climate change, but their use is fraught with risks. The Government must set tough legal standards to ensure that the dash for 'green' fuels does not trash precious habitats like rainforests, push up the price of food for the world's poor, or lead to an increase in carbon emissions."

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