Emissions delay buys rail more time

The Federal Government announced on Monday that Australia’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) would now start a year later than it planned to July 2011 due to a lack of political support and the ongoing global recession.

“The delay was a pragmatic response from the government and I understand why,” Mr Nye said.

“It gives us time to influence a better outcome.”

According to the ARA, the CPRS proposal in its current form provided instant cost offsets for road use and therefore favoured road transport over relatively carbon-efficient rail transport.

The Australian and New Zealand rail industry representative had recently been working with CRC for Rail Innovation on 10 reports that substantiated its claims. 

“We will be working in various ways to amend the proposed policy," Mr Nye said.

While the ARA largely supported the CPRS, it believed that a number of key changes were needed to make it effective.

According to Mr Nye, CPRS should incorporate policies that supported the modal shift from road to rail and sea, which are more carbon-efficient modes of transport.

“Australian transport emissions are increasing at a dramatic rate and unless urgent action is taken immediately, they will comprise 66% of national emissions by 2050,” Mr Nye said.

ARA claimed that the cost of freight transport and rail passenger would rise, while the cost of road transport remained the same once carbon trading took effect.

The Federal Government is working through a number of submissions before the scheme is introduced.

Mr Nye said the existing proposed CPRS was based on political agenda.

Furthermore, he wasn’t concerned about the outlook for the rail industry if the Federal Government did ignore its plea.

“Because we are a low emitter, rail has got a great future,” Mr Nye said.

The rail sector, through ARA, said the CPRS needed to incorporate policies that supported modal shifts from road to rail and sea.

“Policies supporting this modal shift will reduce greenhouse gases significantly in addition to the immense social benefits gained from better transport networks,” Mr Nye said.

The Senate announced an inquiry into the exposure drafts of the legislation to implement the CPRS, and the ARA responded with its submission in late March.