The independent Climate Change Committee has said more domestic travel by train is key to aviation emissions hitting net zero by 2050.
“I’d love to see a situation where it actually replaces domestic air travel,” Mr Barr said. “It’s right from a sustainability point of view and I think it’s the right thing to do.
“If you look at Italy, which is the classic case, they’ve invested heavily in high-speed rail and it’s now a very credible alternative to air.”
He added that the rollout of digital technology, electrification and soon batteries will revolutionise the way railways are run, making them more efficient, easier to maintain and cheaper to expand without costly infrastructure.
For example, Hitachi is trialling intercity trains in Italy which can switch between using overhead electric wires and battery packs for power – removing the need to rely on a diesel motor.
Meanwhile, the UK’s Great Western Main Line is testing sensors mounted on trains that can detect track problems by monitoring tiny bumps absorbed by the suspension.
This could allow engineers to make repairs before serious problems develop, while potentially removing the need for Network Rail to run its yellow track monitoring trains as often.
Greater digitisation of signalling and other train infrastructure will eventually allow small numbers of staff at rail operators to run entire networks remotely from one control room. “It’s a bit of a game-changer,” Mr Barr added.
Developing software that can manage these types of complex systems, along with the hardware that powers them, is a growing line of business for Hitachi – a once-sprawling conglomerate that slimlined its offering after posting the biggest-ever loss by a Japanese manufacturer (787.3 billion yen, about £6.55bn at the time) during the financial crisis.
The company now concentrates on green energy and mobility, digital services and industrial machinery. In 2022, it reported sales of 10.9 trillion yen (£60bn) and profits of about 671 billion yen (£4bn).
Though his background is originally in rail, Mr Barr now represents all of these Hitachi divisions in Europe. Energy is shaping up to be a significant boon, as the Continent scrambles to switch to renewables and ditch Russian gas.
