G-PaTRA partners meet in Aviemore for their first workshops
Partners of the Green Passenger Transport in Rural Areas (G-PaTRA) project, met in Aviemore on 17th and 18th January 2018 for their first workshops. Representatives from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Norway, and the UK travelled through snow and ice to the two day event hosted by HITRANS – the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership.
On day one project partners heard from experts about reducing climate change emissions from ferries, including the potential for hydrogen fuel cells on ferries in Orkney and in Smola, Norway. The workshop also heard about options for zero emission trains on the West Highland line and there were presentations about the next steps in providing electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Scotland’s rural and island areas.
David Gray, Professor of Transport Policy in the School of Creative and Cultural Business, said “Some of these innovations, particularly around ferries and rail, have real potential to reduce CO2 emissions from transport in remote areas. Our partners can take what has been discussed today and transfer it into the demonstration projects which will be happening across partner countries throughout 2018 and 2019.”
On day two project partners reconvened to discuss the data that will be collected throughout the lighthouse projects to monitor the effectiveness of projects. This will ensure all innovation from the project is effectively captured and that other rural and island areas can learn from the G-PaTRA project.