Session III description Let’s do more with less: Energy Efficiency as a strategic driver for railways business

Moderator: Raimondo Orsini, Director of Sustainable Development Foundation

Key Note Speech: Willy Bontinck, SNCB and Chairman of UIC Environment Energy and Sustainability Platform

This session will be focused on energy efficiency and its direct connection to business.

A first natural connection is that energy efficiency brings to always lower operating costs. But there is much more.

Besides safety, the main challenges for railway business today are:

  1. customer satisfaction (punctuality, pricing, service level)
  2. a balanced financial result

In the session, high level representatives of railway companies will analize how energy efficiency management can positively influence these business drivers.

As example, Load factor management, a typical energy efficiency measure, can lead also to better financial results. High Speed train, although consume more energy per trainkm, are in many cases the most energy efficient and also the most economical viable trains because of the high average load factor.

Another example is energy metering and driver’s advice systems: these devices assist the driver to respect the train slot, enhancing punctuality and helping to detect systematic time table conflicts, so to improve the time table.

Last but not least, today “Railway business” is more than a company offering trains services. Railway companies now offer “sustainable mobility services” , offering clients good connexions to all other modes, car-sharing services, bicycle services, etc. This can affect the energy efficiency of the transport sector as a whole, and the quality of national mobility systems, enhancing the perception of the railway companies by customers.

After an opening introduction by the Chairman of the UIC EES Platform, the moderator and the panellists will go around these topics, finding links and perspectives for the future success of the railway business thanks to an effective energy management.