Green Options » railways

Florida Trains to Run on Biodiesel

Andrew Williams — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:41:28 +0000

Florida authorities have announced bold plans to begin running many of the state’s trains on biodiesel. The switch will result in a significant reduction in carbon emissons and drastically reduce the chances of soil pollution in the event of a fuel spill.

Under the plan, South Florida’s Tri-Rail system is to operate 8 of its fleet of 10 locomotives on a 99 per cent blend of either soya or palm oil. The move has been hailed as an important step towards energy independence by the nation’s top transport regulator, the Federal Transit Administration.

The Most Railway Friendly Country In The World Is…

Mark Seall — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:08:10 +0000

Last week I wrote about the lamentable state of British rail services, pointing out that railways in general will need to raise their game if they are to encourage significant numbers of people to abandon the car and go for green rail instead.

So who are the world’s most railway friendly countries, and what can we learn from them about implementing practical rail services that people will actually want to use?

Data provided by The International Union of Railways shows Japan as the world leader among major economies in rail kilometres per inhabitant, followed by Europe lead by the Swiss. The United Kingdom comes, unsurprisingly, near the bottom, with the USA coming last - US citizens traveling one thirteenth the distance of the Japanese by rail.

Britain: My Worst Rail Experiences Ever

Mark Seall — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:00:21 +0000

How was your journey to work this morning?

Several weeks ago, EcoWorldly investigated public transport options around the world in a series of articles which concluded that public transport can be a pleasant, effective and extremely viable form of transportation.

During the week we looked at many positives, from bus travel in South Korea, to Rail Travel in Europe and even Camel Transport in the desert.

But what of the negative aspects of public transport? These aspects are becoming increasingly important, since despite the best efforts of governments and environmental groups, motorists will not give up the car unless viable alternatives exist.

Authors, Anthony Miall and Davil Milsted, wrote in The Xenophobes Guide To The English, “The English take an almost masochistic pride in their public transport system, a system which even a third world country would consider as a disgrace.” With this in mind, and having previously had the opportunity to sample public transport around the world from the Railways of India, Thailand and China, to the Metro of Mexico City, the River Boats of Dubai and the cross country buses of Guatemala - not to mention the super efficient railways where I live in Switzerland - I decided to sample the railways of my native Britain once again to see how they compare against the rest of the world, and more importantly, against the car.