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Mondays to Fridays until 12 December
The National Express East Anglia Network
Tuesday 1 July to Thursday 31 July
Liverpool Street / Stratford to Stansted A...
Saturday 26 July
Travelling by train is one of the most eco-friendly ways to get out and about, and by making energy efficiency a top priority, National Express is ahead of the game
our drivers are trained on a simulator to save energy and to monitor their driving skills
we are the first train operator to fit fuel usage monitoring equipment to our trains
we save 2000 tonnes of CO2 a year by sending power back to the National grid by introducing units that generate electricity when a train puts its brakes on
we recently won the best fleet management at the green awards 2007
It's not an easy task, but by introducing a number of actions and objectives, such as improving the access to data, creating an energy efficiency group with prioritised action plans and analysing what could be saved, both National Express and the National Express group are keen to be green.
A project plan has been developed with nearly 50 specific plans and actions to improve energy efficiency by 25%. The plan is divided into Energy data and management processes; Electric train technical modifications; Diesel train technical modifications; Operational efficiency through good practice; and last but not least, Maintenance depot and station good house keeping.
In December 2006 National Express began to use class 360 to regenerate electricity when braking. This means that the electrical motors are used as a brake and create electricity which can be used for other trains, or put back in the national grid. It's believed this will save 16% of the energy used by the trains, amounting to 2000 tonnes of carbon per year. Heaters are also due to be modified to work only when in service, which is predicted to save 6% of the overall electric bill. And, there is also activity to improve efficiency of air-conditioning and heating, and to stop train doors being left open when not in use. National Express is working with suppliers to improve the efficiency of the diesel engines, too, by testing electronic engine management and clean fuel technology, along with real time fuel measurement. They are proud to be the first UK train operator to undertake these activities to reduce emissions.
And it's not just energy efficiency that National Express is mastering. All efforts are integrated with a plan to improve operational efficiencies, along with technical improvements.
The biggest area to see improvement is quite literally in the driving seat, as National Express is embarking on a program of 'eco train driving'. As part of an integrated two-year programme to save energy and reduce CO2 output, all National Express drivers are being assessed for energy efficient driving techniques. The tests are taking place on new driver simulators to be conducted by the end of the year, which will then produce detailed descriptions of the amount of energy used. The assessment will culminate in a competition to find the best eco driver within National Express' 730 drivers. National Express believes that up to 6% of energy can be saved in this area and is backing this up with a good housekeeping practices program, which includes turning trains off at night, shutting down trains at the weekend and shutting down diesel trains when not in use.
National Express has already had success with their depots winning an environmental award last year thanks to improvements to heating, zoned lighting and good housekeeping.
Following on from this, stations are the next area to be given the 'green' once-over. So how does all this affect you? Well, we all have a role to improve energy efficiency. By travelling by train instead of the car, you're helping to reduce the CO2 we produce as a nation!
When you're on the train, where possible, please close doors and windows when the heating or air conditioning is working to improve its efficiency and reduce energy use. National Express is proud of the efforts it has made to improve energy efficiency. Trains are already the green way to travel and National Express is in the lead to make them even better.
A Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide.
How big is yours? Find out, and then do something about it! Use the carbon footprint calculator at http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html
