The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) says trains should get more involved in the push for safer and cleaner engines.

ATA government relations and communications manager Bill McKinley says Euro engines have cut particulate emissions from trucks considerably, and rail operators should look for an equivalent.

“The trucking industry has seen a very significant improvement in the emissions from truck engines and we haven’t seen that same improvement from the rail side,” McKinley says.

“We believe that rail locomotives should be subject to the same standards, or at least comparable standards, to the trucking industry.”

“Particularly when they are used in large metropolitan areas, like metro Sydney for example, they should be subject to emission control,” he said.

The comments echo those of federal Liberal MP Craig Kelly, who recently claimed diesel locomotives emit 20 times more potentially-carcinogenic particulate matter than a truck engine built in the last seven years.

The rail sector’s industry body, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA), says that some more could be done to cut its emissions.

“Despite its obvious social, environmental and economic advantages, investment is needed in Australia’s freight network and locomotives. Some locomotives are operating with diesel engines that are more than 40 years old,” an ARA representative told industry media outlet Fully Loaded.