Kolkata | 27 August, 2026
 

Can India’s railway system go green as fast as it electrifies?
 

For decades, diesel locomotives were a visible part of India’s railway emissions story. Electrification has changed that equation dramatically.

Indian Railways has pushed electrification at an exceptional pace. By July 2026, Indian Railways had electrified 99.6% of its broad-gauge network, with only a small portion yet to be electrified. Between 2014 and 2026, around 48,072 route kilometres were electrified, compared with roughly 21,801 kilometres during the six decades before 2014.

The transition has also reduced diesel use for railway traction. Indian Railways reported that traction-related diesel consumption fell from 293 crore litres in 2015-16 to 108 crore litres in 2024 - 25.
That represents a major operational shift.

But electrification raises the next question:

What powers the electricity?

Switching from diesel to electric locomotives reduces direct emissions, but the overall climate benefit also depends on the source of the electricity used to power them. Electrification therefore removes one major source of direct emissions, but it does not automatically make the railway system renewable or zero-carbon.
That makes renewable energy the next stage of the transition.

Indian Railways reported that, as of June 2026, around 1,161 MW of solar capacity and 103 MW of wind capacity had been commissioned. The solar capacity includes both rooftop and land-based projects.
The numbers show that the railway’s transition is moving beyond simply replacing diesel with electricity.

The next challenge is to make more of that electricity cleaner - and to measure how much renewable power actually contributes to the railway’s overall energy demand and emissions reduction.

THE ELECTRIC RAILWAY TEST
 

DIESEL TRACTION
↓
RAILWAY ELECTRIFICATION
↓
HIGHER ELECTRICITY DEMAND
↓
RENEWABLE POWER
↓
ACTUAL CLEAN ELECTRICITY USED
↓
LOWER EMISSIONS PER JOURNEY

Electrification is the transition. Cleaning the electricity is the deeper decarbonisation test.

Can railway stations become power producers instead of just power consumers?

Railway stations offer a natural opportunity for solarisation. Their rooftops, parking areas and other available spaces can support solar installations, allowing electricity to be used at the station or integrated into wider railway operations.

The scale of this effort has grown rapidly. 
In November 2025, Indian Railways reported 898 MW of commissioned solar capacity across 2,626 railway stations. Around 629 MW was intended for traction, while the remaining capacity supported non-traction requirements such as stations, workshops, service buildings and railway quarters.
That figure, however, should now be treated as a milestone rather than the latest national total. 
By June 2026, Indian Railways reported around 1,161 MW of commissioned solar capacity.
Installed capacity alone does not tell the full story. What matters is how much renewable electricity is actually generated and used.

A stronger assessment would therefore ask:
•    How much electricity is the solar capacity actually generating?
•    How much is being used for railway operations?
•    How much is supporting traction?
•    When was each plant commissioned?
•    What was the capital cost?
•    What is its expected operating life?
•    How is its performance being monitored?
•    What happens to the equipment at the end of its useful life?

A station covered in solar panels may look green. Renewable capacity is only part of the picture. A station that can demonstrate actual clean-energy generation, consumption and emissions avoided offers stronger evidence of meaningful decarbonisation.

What happens when more passengers choose greener transport?

This is where the story becomes more complicated.

A public transport system can become more efficient even as its overall electricity consumption rises. Higher energy use does not necessarily mean that the system is becoming less efficient.
If more people choose a metro instead of private vehicles, the system may consume more electricity overall while producing lower emissions per passenger journey.

Delhi Metro provides a useful example. DMRC’s 2025 energy case study reported that solar power contributed 32% of its total energy consumption during the period assessed. The system has also used renewable electricity procurement to reduce its dependence on conventional power.
Passenger demand has also grown, with Delhi Metro recording 235.8 crore passenger journeys in 2025 compared with 223.5 crore a year earlier. The figures highlight why electricity use needs to be assessed alongside passenger demand.

If ridership grows faster than energy demand, the system may become more efficient. Even if total electricity consumption increases, a decline in energy use per passenger journey can indicate improved efficiency.

But if both absolute electricity consumption and emissions continue to rise, a higher renewable-energy share alone does not tell the complete story.

The real measure of a greener public transport system is therefore not simply how much renewable energy it uses, but whether it can move more people with a lower environmental cost per journey.

ENERGY SAVINGS VS RIDERSHIP

RENEWABLE SHARE ↑
RIDERSHIP ↑
ENERGY EFFICIENCY ↑
↓
CHECK
Total energy use
Energy per passenger
Carbon per passenger
Absolute emissions

A greener network should be measured against the people it moves, not only the infrastructure it installs.

Can Kolkata Metro cut emissions by using less electricity in the first place?

Kolkata Metro offers a different lesson in decarbonisation: sometimes the cleanest unit of electricity is the one the system does not need to consume.
The transition does not always require a new renewable-energy plant. Improving the efficiency of existing infrastructure can also reduce energy use and emissions.
Metro Railway Kolkata has been replacing its older steel third rail with a more conductive aluminium third-rail system. The railway has stated that the upgrade can reduce energy losses by 84% on the affected system, while also reducing voltage drops and improving operational efficiency.

The project highlights a simple but important principle:
Electricity generated from clean sources is still wasted if it is unnecessarily lost before reaching the system that needs it.

That makes energy efficiency an important part of railway and metro decarbonisation. More efficient traction systems, regenerative braking, better station cooling, energy-efficient lighting and improved energy management can all complement renewable-energy procurement.

Kolkata also demonstrates why ridership needs to be part of the climate discussion.
After the Green Line became fully operational in August 2025, daily ridership rose from around 78,000 to 2.04 lakh.
More passengers can naturally increase a metro system’s electricity demand. But that does not automatically mean its environmental performance is worsening.

If those additional passengers are shifting from private cars, motorcycles or other more carbon-intensive modes, the wider transport system could still be reducing emissions.

Can a Metro Be Truly Green If Passengers Still Depend on Cars to Reach It?

A metro journey does not begin when a passenger enters the station.
It begins at home.
That makes first- and last-mile connectivity an important part of the decarbonisation story. 
A passenger who walks, cycles or uses an electric feeder to reach a metro station has a very different emissions profile from someone who drives a petrol or diesel vehicle to the station.

A metro’s climate benefit does not depend only on the train journey. How passengers get to and from the station matters just as much.

A low-carbon metro cannot be judged only by what happens on the tracks. The entire passenger journey has to be considered.

That means the transition needs to connect:

Homes → Feeder transport → Metro/Railway → Feeder transport → Destination

Electric buses, e-rickshaws, shared mobility, cycling infrastructure and safe pedestrian routes can extend the climate benefits of mass transit beyond the station gates.

This means metro corporations need to look beyond the electricity used to run their trains. The wider question is whether the transport network makes it easy for passengers to complete their entire journey through low-emission modes.

The key question is:
Are metro systems making it easier for people to reach and leave stations without having to fall back on high-emission private transport?
A metro may run on clean electricity, but its full environmental benefit is limited if passengers still need petrol or diesel vehicles to complete the first and last mile.

THE LOW-CARBON JOURNEY

HOME
↓
🚶 WALK / CYCLE
or
⚡ ELECTRIC FEEDER
↓
🚇 METRO / RAILWAY
↓
🚶 WALK / CYCLE
or
⚡ ELECTRIC FEEDER
↓
DESTINATION

The train can be green. The entire journey needs to move in the same direction.

Does a green railway-station certificate prove that a station is sustainable?

Not by itself.
Green-building and green-station certifications can provide a useful framework for improving a station’s performance across areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation and waste management.

The IGBC Green Railway Stations rating system, for example, covers several of these areas and can help guide stations towards more sustainable design and operations.
But certification and actual environmental performance are not the same thing.

A stronger evidence test should ask:
What was the baseline? What did the reporting boundary include? Which measures were actually commissioned? How much energy is being saved? How much water is being conserved or reused? What was budgeted, and how much was actually spent? Are the claimed savings still being measured after implementation?

These questions matter because a green rating can demonstrate that specific sustainability measures have been incorporated into a project. 
It does not automatically prove that the station is delivering the same level of long-term carbon reduction in its day-to-day operations.

Ultimately, a certificate can show what a station was designed or assessed to achieve. 
Actual performance data shows what it is achieving in practice.

Beyond Electrification: How Green Is the Railway?

THE GREEN TRANSIT SCORECARD

This is where corporate and government reporting needs to become much more transparent.

A company supplying renewable-energy infrastructure should clearly distinguish between capacity that has been announced, installed and actually commissioned. 
A railway authority should separate electricity generated from electricity actually consumed. 
A metro corporation should demonstrate whether renewable-energy procurement is translating into measurable changes in its emissions profile.

Similarly, green-station certification should be treated as one part of the sustainability assessment, not a substitute for measuring the station’s wider emissions and resource use.

The distinction may sound technical, but it determines whether sustainability claims reflect what is actually happening on the ground.

Can the world’s largest passenger railway network decarbonise without compromising access?

There is no single technology that can answer that question.

Electrification is essential, but it is only the first layer of the transition. 
Solar and wind power can reduce the carbon intensity of railway electricity. More efficient traction systems can reduce energy losses. Greener stations can lower energy and water demand. Metro expansion can shift passengers away from private vehicles. Electric buses and feeders can connect neighbourhoods to mass transit while keeping the wider journey cleaner.

Together, these measures can move the railway and public-transport system towards lower emissions without making access to mobility more difficult.

But every layer creates a new measurement challenge.
The sector needs to distinguish between announced and commissioned projects, installed capacity and actual generation, renewable-energy procurement and actual renewable-energy consumption, and energy savings and measurable emissions reductions.

It also needs to account for the lifecycle footprint of new tracks, stations, trains, solar equipment and other infrastructure, rather than measuring only the emissions produced during day-to-day operations.

The goal is not simply to build a railway that uses more clean technology. It is to build a transport system that can demonstrate, with evidence, that it is moving more people while reducing the environmental cost of that mobility.

THE REAL DECARBONISATION TEST
 

ELECTRIFY
↓
POWER WITH RENEWABLES
↓
REDUCE ENERGY LOSSES
↓
GROW RIDERSHIP
↓
CONNECT FIRST & LAST MILE
↓
MEASURE EMISSIONS PER PASSENGER
↓
VERIFY SPENDING & PERFORMANCE
 

India’s Railways Are Going Electric. But Are They Truly Low-Carbon?

The evidence points to a major transition - but not a finished one.
Indian Railways has reached 99.6% broad-gauge electrification, while its latest reported renewable-energy capacity stood at 1,161 MW of solar and 103 MW of wind commissioned by June 2026. 
Traction-related diesel consumption has also fallen substantially over the past decade.

These are significant milestones. But electrification is not the finish line. It is the foundation for the next stage of decarbonisation.

The harder task now is to clean the electricity powering the network, reduce energy losses, expand public-transport use and make the entire passenger journey lower-carbon - from the first mile to the last.

For Indian Railways and the country’s expanding metro systems, the strongest sustainability claim will therefore not simply be:
“We electrified the railway.”
It will be:
“We can show how much cleaner each journey has become - where the electricity came from, how much energy and carbon were actually saved, what was spent and what changed on the ground.”

That means moving beyond headline numbers and proving the difference between infrastructure installed and performance achieved.

Because a railway does not become truly green simply because its locomotives run on electricity.

Electrifying the railway is a major step. But it is not the finish line. The transition becomes truly green when the electricity gets cleaner, energy losses fall, more people choose mass transit, and emissions per journey show a measurable decline.
That is what India’s green rail transition must ultimately prove: not simply that more tracks are electrified, but that every step is making the country’s mobility cleaner and lower-carbon.
 

Sources:

1. Indian Railways / Ministry of Railways — Railway Electrification & Renewable Energy, July 2026
   Supports the latest 99.6% broad-gauge electrification, the 1,161 MW solar + 103 MW wind commissioned by June 2026, and the fall in traction diesel consumption from 293 crore litres in 2015-16 to 108 crore litres in 2024-25. 
   Ministry of Railways — Railway Electrification & Renewable Energy 
2. Indian Green Building Council — Green Railway Stations Rating System
   Supports the sections on green-station certification, energy and water savings, renewable energy, waste management and first-/last-mile connectivity. It also explains the performance-improvement study and third-party assessment process. 
   IGBC Green Railway Stations Rating System 
3. Indian Green Building Council — Green High Speed Rail Rating System
   Useful for the broader low-carbon rail infrastructure, lifecycle/site boundary and first-/last-mile connectivity discussion. 
   IGBC Green High Speed Rail Rating System 
4. Indian Railways — Renewable Energy / Solarisation milestones
   Use this for the earlier 898 MW solar capacity across 2,626 stations milestone that appears in the article as historical context. For the latest figure, use the July 2026 Ministry of Railways release above. 
5. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation — Sustainability / Energy documentation
   This is the source to retain for the Delhi Metro solar contribution, renewable procurement, energy efficiency and ridership portions. The official DMRC site is also the appropriate primary source for its operational and sustainability documentation. 
   Delhi Metro Rail Corporation