James Prichard BDS, MSc

Dr James Pritchard is Research Fellow in Rail Systems within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. He joined the University in 2009 to study for an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in the area of sustainable transport. The title of his thesis was “Investigating the environmental sustainability of rail travel in comparison with other modes.” Environmental sustainability is a broad topic, and the main focus was on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Empirical energy consumption data from trains were analysed in order to understand some of the factors which affect operational energy consumption and make better comparisons with alternatives, such as driving or taking the bus. Some work was also undertaken to investigate the embedded energy and emissions of infrastructure, and a review of some life-cycle analysis studies was undertaken.