Solar energy on the rails: Countries such as India, Germany and Poland are embracing sustainable rail initiatives | To travel

Several countries are making their rail networks more sustainable with the power of solar energy. In India, Central Railway is rolling out no less than 1,000 hectares of solar parks, after installing 135 kilowatt-peak of solar energy last month. The rail network aims to develop 1 megawatt of solar units at 81 locations to contribute to national renewable energy targets and reduce carbon emissions.

“To facilitate the installation of the solar parks, we have identified approximately 1093 hectares of vacant or unused railway land,” said Shivraj Manaspure, the spokesperson for Indian Railways. “These locations have potential for solar energy infrastructure development and will help to further reduce carbon emissions from India’s railways.”

This initiative is part of a growing trend of railways worldwide using their large land portfolios to go green and meet renewable energy targets. In Europe, several countries are also working on green railway projects. For example, the French-Belgian high-speed train operator Thalys has been using 100 percent green energy for all trains in France, Belgium and Germany since 2020.

The German Deutsche Bahn is currently the largest consumer of renewable energy in Germany, partly thanks to its own solar parks. Meanwhile, Poland or PKP Polish Rails also has the largest rail power bank in Europe. This is a storage facility that uses residual energy to power approximately 1,500 regional and long-distance trains each month.

The movement towards renewable energy sources on railways is welcomed by SolarPower Europe, who note that the appeal of rail travel is growing due to the environmentally friendly footprint of trains compared to airplanes. As a result, some railway companies are even experimenting with integrating solar panels into the railway lines themselves.