The application for a new coal mine in Northumberland has been rejected by the Government, and the Heritage Railway Association has said that this decision is a blow to the heritage railways in Britain.
They have also said that many railways may be forced to reduce or cease operation as a result of this decision.
Heritage railways, like traction engines, steam boats, steam ships and static steam engines, all need coal to function, and the kind of coal they need is different to that used by power stations; however, it can be sourced from the same mines.
In England, the last mine producing washed lump coal, which is vital for heritage steam, ceased operating in August, marking “a bleak future for heritage railways”.
On behalf of their members, the Heritage Railway Association has been asking the Government for clarity on the future of coal for heritage steam.
The Government has stated that it has no wish to see the end of heritage steam in the UK, however, whilst it has understood the problem facing the heritage sector, it has yet to find a solution.
‘It makes no sense,' said Steve Oates, the Heritage Railway Association's CEO. ‘The UK needs five million tonnes of coal every year, for steel and cement production. The decision to end coal production in the UK is driven by CO2 reduction targets. But the CO2 generated by importing coal from countries like Russia and the USA produces ten times more emissions than producing it domestically.'
‘Steam engines need washed lump coal,' says Oates. ‘It's different to the more finely-grained coal the steel and cement industries need,' Britain's heritage railways use just 26,000 tonnes of coal a year. ‘Such coal can be imported,' said Oates, ‘But it will come at prices most railways simply won't be able to afford.'
Coal produced in the UK is famous, and much loved by railways such as the Bluebell Railway, the Ffestiniog Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. No heritage railway in the UK was more than 400 miles from a source of the right kind of coal; most had coal within 200 miles.
However, with imported coal, these distances significantly multiply: 5000 miles from Russia, 4,700 miles from America, 13,500 miles from Australia.
‘But UK heritage railways produce just 0.02% of the UK‘s CO2 emissions,' Oates explains. ‘And for that very small amount, they not only preserve and promote the great enabler of Britain's proud industrial and social heritage, they provide work for some 4000 people, attract some 13million visitors annually, and bring an estimated £400 million to the British economy every year.' Even so, he points out, ‘we still take our environmental responsibilities very seriously, and work at best practice as well as offset schemes, to mitigate the impact of the very small amount of CO2 we produce.'
2020 has been a brutal year for the heritage railways in Britain; the HRA has told RailAdvent that the coronavirus pandemic has forced the closure of them for their best months of year. Many are now “run on a shoestring”, and with costs and overheads still need paying, some “may not survive”, with those railways reopening in the last few weeks are coming out of closure “financially bruised”.
‘The Highthorn refusal is massively disappointing,' Oates said. ‘The Heritage Railway Association is considering how to proceed. We're already taking the lead in evaluating options for securing supplies from overseas, and ways of combining the buying power of our sector to make it happen. In their day, the railways enabled so much of Britain's proudest history. Today they entertain and educate millions of people every year. We can't allow them to suffer the unintended consequences of policy decisions.'
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They would say “makes no sense” there not living on top of the place,.
The coal under Durage bay IS NOT high grade steam coal. And quite frankly the people up here in Northumberland are pig sick of these pillar robbers, there “it will create 200 jobs” BULL these are jobs that are transferred from other spend and closed sites. There is NO rail link that means 200 lorry’s a day of narrow roads. but you know what’s funny is that HRA said bugger all when One small opencast way up above Alnwick that did produce good quality steam coal had to close due to NO ORDERS
A ridiculous decision – there is a huge coal heap at Didcot Power station that is surplus to requirements and could be used instead of importing coal. It is just sitting there and being turned over at great cost to prevent it self combusting. And it’s English Coal too!!
It surplus to requirement as its the WRONG COAL, every Power Stations furnaces were designed to burn coal of a very specific calorific value and ash content. This is why most power station when privatised the owners, being greedy and ignorant of the fact, bought the cheapest possible coal available then found that the power station was not performing the way it did or should do.
They’re trying to kill coal everywhere, aren’t they? Those ”environmentalists” in the bloody governments!!
Sir,
I am one of the many model engineers in uk. I have built and run 3 miniature steam coal fired locomotives. You need to include model engineer. Also explain more fully to the public the scientific
difference between Anthracite coal and ordinary coal.
The coal reserve at Highthorn does not include anthracite.
The claim that the CO2 burden from importing coal is 10x that of indigenous coal is untrue, and no coal company has ever been able to demonstrate how the two supplies compare in this respect.
The contributors to this article ignore the devastating direct environmental impact on the local environment from an opencast mine.
Coal
The government needs to rethink this one ! Utter madness to have to import coal from abroad when we can give people jobs here & use our own ! natural resources ! Get a petition up for this one ! 👍
Another government destructive decision.
I support a petition totally
Dear Friends,
I just added the petition “Keep British Coal”.
It would mean a lot to me if you took a moment to add your name because:
Coal produced in the UK is famous, and much loved by railways such as the Bluebell Railway, the Ffestiniog Railway and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. No heritage railway in the UK was more than 400 miles from a source of the right kind of coal; most had coal within 200 miles.
However, with imported coal, these distances significantly multiply: 5000 miles from Russia, 4,700 miles from America, 13,500 miles from Australia
Real change happens when everyday people like you and I come together and stand up for what we believe in. Together we can reach heaps of people and help create change around this important issue.
Hi I can’t seem to find the petition to sign?
Whole of cycle CO2 emissions from imported coal is likely to be less per tonne than indigenous production by opencast methods. This is because transport by conveyor and bulk cargo vessels is very carbon efficient, whilst extraction by opencast methods followed by road transport is very carbon intensive.
No opencast coal company in the UK has ever been able to argue successfully that it’s product is less carbon intensive than the imported product.
The environmental impacts of opencast mining are too great in a small country like the UK except in a dire energy crisis, like WWII.
There has been too much unwarranted opencast mining here already, and it is only really now more people are waking-up to the damage done, and what has been lost in terms of natural landscape, biodiversity and cultural heritage.
And “restoration schemes” do not restore, they instead replace with alien landscapes often prepared with future redevelopment in mind…
Imported coal has a carbon footprint many times higher than native coal….. as its been transported thousands of miles, and by the time it reaches the distribution depots, much of it is unusable, having crumbled to dust!
To claim imported coal has a lower carbon content or footprint than British mined coal is pure fantasy!
As is the blaming of coal burning on the global warming crisis, The current climate issues are coursed by jet aircraft high up in the skys, and the billions of vehicles around the world burning petrol and diesel. The refined exhaust gasses from these vehicles is much worse than that from burning coal, which sees most of the heavy carbon particles fall back to earth.
Global warming has gone hand in hand with the use of petrol and diesel cars, and became much worse at the time jet aircraft use exploded and became manic, all the wile the about of coal being burnt was going down dramatically.
So daft is the environmentalists argument, they want the government to FLOOD the Fens to stop carbon being given off by the peat rich soil!
The day they ban aircraft from the skies for social and leisure use, is the day I will take the government of the day seriously about global warming! Coal is being made the scapegoat.
What is more important People live or Steam Railways getting cheap coal ? I’m from Northumberland 3 Miles from the proposed site, and it the same site that a Nuclear Power Station was refused in the 90s, What they DONT tell you is that this is NOT solid seams of coal but pillars of left behind by the former drift mine at Creswell and what was deemed to low grade by British Coal/NCB to be of any use.
The government dose not ned to rethink on this, we are sick of opencast and SOUTHERNERS telling us we need them.
you think open cast coal mining is bad well think again, Lithium mining is worse by ten fold, land ,air and water pollution. Country’s like Chile, Savanna area in Portugal . Congo are felling the affects of lithium mining, and what for stupid Electric cars that are deemed to save the planet. Don’t think so.
Its not just Southerners, but those from all over the UK, North, South, East and West!
It would seam that you would rather coal be imported from over seas, which obviously has a much higher carbon footprint, as it has to be transported half way around the globe!
It was a massive mistake to STOP the mining of coal in current opencast and deep mines. Its not just effecting new or potential mines, many profitable open cast mines, and quarry’s (gravel sand etc) are being told by the Department for the Environment that their operating licences will not be renewed in a effort to tackle climate issues, despite the fact it plays no part so what ever in global warming.
The global warming crisis has developed since the 1950’s, with the increase in petrol and diesel powered vehicles, but has become much worse with the boom in jet aircraft, which pump refined CO2 into the atmosphere.