Greening of the railway system is projected to contribute significantly to the country’s achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Indian Railways is set to become a net zero carbon emitter and world’s first green railway by 2030. About 63% or 40,000 route km of 68,000 km of railway track has been already electrified, according to the Ministry of Railways. Indian Railways transports eight billion passengers a year.
Greening of India’s railway system is being supported by United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) through technical advice and training and will contribute significantly to the country’s achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), most of which have a deadline of 2030.
Running mostly on polluting fossil fuels, Indian Railways contributes 4% of the 12% emissions by the transport sector in the country. Becoming a net zero carbon emitter by 2030 amounts to cutting down on emissions of 7.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, which is equivalent to two coal power plants, adds UNEP. India has a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 35 per cent in the next 10 years.
Indian Railways has taken a number of other initiatives, too, to promote solar energy and is working to harness the potential of 500 Mega Watt (MW) energy through roof-top solar panels. 100 Mega Watt (MW) of solar plants have been commissioned on roof-tops of various buildings, including 900 stations.
Besides, Indian Railways is trying to produce power from land-based solar installations for running trains. Indian Railways has 51,000 hectare of land potential for installing 20 GW land-based solar plants. In the wind energy sector, 103 MW wind-based power plants have already been commissioned.
Plans are also afoot to green railway stations and get them certified. Already 100 water treatment and recycling plants have been installed. Long-distance coaches have been equipped with bio-tanks to handle human waste, which are estimated to cut emissions of up to 155 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. A total of 69,000 coaches have been fitted with more than 2,44,000 bio-toilets. At this pace, Indian Railways is expected to set an example of climate-friendliness for transport systems globally.