The direct supply of solar energy to Indian Railway lines, without the need to connect via the grid, would save almost 7 million tons of carbon a year whilst also powering at least one in four train on the national network on competitive terms, a new study by Delhi-based Climate Trends and UK-based green-tech start-up Riding Sunbeams said on Wednesday.

According to the Indian Railways 2019/2020 annual report, there was passenger traffic of over 8 billion in that period, which would mean that 2 billion passengers could be travelling on trains directly powered by solar energy.

The new analysis highlights that around a quarter of this new solar capacity - up to 5,272 megawatt - could be fed directly into the railway’s overhead lines instead of being procured over the electricity networks, reducing energy losses and saving money for the rail operator. The researchers found that substituting energy supplied from the coal-dominated grid for private-wire supply from solar could also rapidly cut emissions by as much as 6.8 million tons of Carbon dioxide each year -- just over the entire annual emissions of Kanpur.

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