Tube Lines exceeds its 2007 environmental business objectives

Fourth annual environment and community report published on World Environment Day

Tube Lines is marking World Environment Day by publishing its fourth annual environment and community report online at www.tubelines.com/environmentreport. It highlights how the company, which is rebuilding the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, exceeded its three environmental business objectives in 2007 and set new standards in measuring carbon footprints.

Last year Tube Lines met all of the challenging objectives it set itself, successfully reducing energy and paper use and increasing fuel efficiency. Tube Lines played its part towards meeting government targets for the UK to reduce carbon emissions from energy and fuel use by 60% by 2050; in 2007 alone the company achieved a 20% reduction in energy use at its offices and at Piccadilly line depots.  Measures adopted to achieve this included adjusting air conditioning and lighting, restricting lifts and doors out of hours and getting employees to switch off their computers.

The company demonstrated the strength of its environmental commitment by going over and above standard practice in calculating its carbon footprint. Tube Lines included embedded carbon as well as the corporate footprint most commonly calculated by organisations. The work, described in the report, calculated the total carbon associated with every activity Tube Lines undertakes, from refurbishing an escalator and upgrading a station to maintaining and cleaning trains for the three lines. As part of the study, Tube Lines identified a wide range of potential improvements, 22 of which are being implemented in 2008, to support the targeted reduction of 5,000 tonnes of CO2.

As well as understanding how Tube Lines can reduce its emissions, it has made significant progress in defining how it needs to adapt to the changing climate. In 2007, Tube Lines developed a matrix that identifies the effect of the weather on its assets and practices. This has identified over 200 potential threats and opportunities posed by climate change. It uses a combination of weather records from 1990, data on its infrastructure and long-range climate predictions from the UK Climate Impacts Programme to extrapolate the effects of extreme weather to provide estimates of the likely costs of climate change. This is enabling Tube Lines to identify and prioritise significant impacts and develop appropriate adaptation strategies in advance of the Climate Change Bill expected this summer.

Tube Lines has also made a positive contribution to local community life having paid out £16,500 from its community support fund to charities and local organisations supported by its employees.  A further £28,000 was donated to other charities and community groups, including Railway Children and the New London Orchestra.

Commenting on the progress made in 2007 Charlotte Simmonds, Tube Lines Environment Manager said:

“Now that we have measured how much carbon dioxide we produce, we have a tangible benchmark to measure our progress against in the years ahead.  Our business objective to reduce our carbon footprint by 5,000 tonnes by the end of 2008 is just the beginning.

“Our recycling efforts, which funds the community support fund that supplements employee charity donations, recognises what a difference good environmental management can make.  We feel strongly about putting something back into the communities we serve and will continue to support and work with local communities and schools in 2008.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact:
Press office, Tube Lines: 020 7088 4848 / 07764 429 015

Notes to Editors

1. ‘Go Green’ is at the heart of Tube Lines’ environmental performance.  In 2005 it achieved the international standard ISO 14001 of environmental management by the British Standards Institute.  The programme to work towards achieving accreditation was accompanied by an environmental training programme which focused on five key impact areas: noise and nuisance, waste and materials, pollution, wildlife and heritage and energy and utilities.
2. Tube Lines is responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the infrastructure on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines.  London Underground is responsible for operating the Underground, for employing drivers and station staff, for ticketing and fares, and for the Tube’s safety regime.
3. The Tube Lines consortium consists of two shareholders – Amey and Bechtel. They bring together some of the most experienced providers of business services with specialist skills in the rail industry, including track and signal renewals, plus project and operational management.  They are providing some of the best project and operational managers from around the world to work on the modernisation of the Tube system. Amey owns two-thirds of Tube Lines’ business and Bechtel one third.

 

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