Our environmental performance

At SWR we are committed to operating in a way that reduces our impact on the environment and supports a more sustainable railway for the future. We are working hard to minimise our environmental footprint and play our part in the rail industries transition to net zero.

To provide transparency, we publish key environmental performance indicators, which track our progress in areas such as energy use of our traction (fleet) and non-traction (buildings), carbon emissions, waste and water.

You can find the latest KPI data below, along with further information on our wider sustainability approach here.

Move left and right to view the full table
Environmental KPIs P1 - 26/27 P2 - 26/27 P3 - 26/27 P4 - 26/27 P5 - 26/27 P6 - 26/27 P7 - 26/27 P8 - 26/27 P9 - 26/27 P10 - 26/27 P11 - 26/27 P12 - 26/27 P13 - 26/27
Traction Energy Emissions - Total traction emissions per vehicle-km (tonnes CO2e) 7507000 6548000
Non-Traction Energy Consumption - Total non-traction energy use (MWh) 2495570 2020348
"Circular Economy: 50% waste reduction 30% increased recycling 20% waste to landfill" 2.8 2.8
Water Consumption - Total water consumption (m3) 42.64 40.08
Diesl use per vehicle km: Diesel used (litres) per vehicle-km by train vehicles using diesel 0.43 0.43

Our years run from 1st April to 31st March and include 13 four-week periods - shown as "Px" in the table above.

In September, SWR, and some other train operators, switched to a new waste provider. This has involved updating reporting methodologies, incorporating actual, rather than estimated tonnages, and reclassifying bottom ash (from energy-from-waste plants) as non-recycled. This has resulted in an 36% reduction in waste produced from P6 to P7, a higher percentage of energy created from waste and a lower recycling percentage.

These changes now provide more accurate baseline for reporting, aligned with DEFRA and DfT compliance requirements, and we are working hard to increase recycling rates in the future.