ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the historical evolution of air pollutants from rail and road transport in Great Britain. Transport emissions are calculated either from a combination of total fuel consumption data and fuel properties or from a combination of drive related emission factors and traffic data. A selection of data that concern transportation is reproduced in the Department for Transport's yearly 'Transport Statistics Great Britain' and 'Transport Trends'. The huge quantities of coal burned for rail transport over a century created significant emissions of both sulphur dioxide and black smoke, which concerned policy makers throughout this period. Carbon monoxide is a pollutant primarily emitted by internal combustion engines, so road transport is a major contributor. A more precise picture of the evolution for each pollutant can be obtained by expressing it relative to its 1970 level. Nitrogen oxides are important pollutants from transport but also have large industrial sources.
