Trains offer the best of green mobility solutions

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: The transport industry in India is now coming under a huge amount of scrutiny where issues of the environment and sustainability are concerned. Companies are under increasing pressure to prove that they are operating in an environmentally sound way and are therefore putting in place initiatives that are providing best practices for long-term sustainable growth and development. The challenge is for companies to explore the full potential in the emerging markets and help them develop faster, without significantly damaging the environment.

Worldwide, transportation accounts for 20% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Road transportation accounts for 84% of that total, air transportation for 15%, and rail transportation for 1-2%. That explains why rail transportation is seen as a viable option in efforts to further sustainable development agenda, and to tackle the expected rise in passenger transportation requirements, especially in densely populated countries like India. Forecasts suggest that passenger transportation across Europe alone (25 countries) will swell about 40% by 2030. Growing high-speed and very-high-speed railroad networks, paired with faster commercial train services, are providing a natural alternative to flying. Regional and intercity services, for their part, are emerging as a viable alternative to driving on the strength of rising quality, comfort and reliability standards today.

The transportation sector’s environmental challenge is paired with a mobility issue. The population concentration in cities is bottlenecking roads. Increased automobile use, together with urbanisation, also means that there is an increasing strain on the existing infrastructure. Rail transportation is seen as a promising alternative to driving—and to the associated problems of pollution, stress, higher costs and wasted time that the latter entails. India too is turning towards rail transportation as an alternative in transportation solutions, especially given the sheer strength of the population in the metro cities alone.

With Delhi being at the forefront of pioneering Metro projects in India, several other urban authorities across the country have undertaken the initiative. While the completion of these will require a long timeframe and processes, the good news is that the average eco-efficiency of modern trains as manufactured by major global railway manufacturers is comparatively much higher than for other types of motorised freight or passenger transport, in terms of energy consumption and pollution output. Rail transportation comes out on top in all the relevant measures of environmental protection when directly compared to other modes of transport. But there is still much work to do to make a more significant impact on the overall environmental scenario in India.

The government has recognised this need and is in the process of bringing out policies to promote rail based urban transportation. Such large projects entail relatively high financial outlay for which only budgetary support will not suffice. Policy planners are evolving innovative financial models like public private partnership to attract private/ foreign investments in this sector. To enable this, there is a need to formulate model concession agreements with investment and legal framework, which global companies can identify with.

While the government has started rolling out policies to promote rail transportation, increasing capacity is only part of the answer. Rail transportation also has to provide an attractive and competitive alternative to driving and flying if it wants to level the playing field in its favour. This industry’s players—and its operators in particular—are at the hub of the efforts to rise to this challenge. In the years to come, the companies in the railway sector will play a critical role in advancing sustainable mobility and development in the country. Ecological compatibility is a major competitive advantage of rail transport vis-à-vis other modes of motorised travel. This needs to be enhanced by the introduction of environmental improve- ments through the production chain. For sector players, the aim has to be to balance technological innovation and product development with sound and sustainable environmental policy.

Emerging countries are struggling to cope with the pressures that their growing economies have created and the impact this has on the environment and the quality of life for their citizens. Therefore, it becomes imperative that one of the key issues of transport is addressed in a way that continually strives to improve ecological standards and also protects the environment. If the government increases focus on PPP with regard to policy making as well as implementation, it will ultimately serve to improve the overall efficacy of public works and the standard of living of all Indians.