Invites experts to give suggestions on what’s required to meet national standards and be a Green Railway
Is our suburban railway a Green Railway and does it conform to national standards? What's required to enhance its green rating? The Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is looking at the suburban railway's green ratings and whether they conform to the standards of the Indian Green Buildings Council's (IGBC's) existing mass transit category.
Reviewing stations' performance as per IGBC guidelines will help authorities to enhance commuters' comfort and experience. Representation pic
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"Benchmarking the current performance of existing stations on select environmental parameters in line with the latest IGBC guidelines for Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) will help suburban railways to maximise resource efficiency, improve its environmental parameters and enhance commuters' comfort and experience. We have called in consultants for this," a senior official said.
For sustainable performance
The MRVC had earned carbon credits for energy-efficient trains in 2007-08, when it introduced new local trains under phase I of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project; these had regenerative braking system, which helped to recycle power generated from brakes back into the system.
The IGBC Green Existing MRTS rating system is a similar tool to enable operational rail-based MRTS to apply green concepts and sustain performance of system with respect to the green features during operation. The aim is to further reduce environmental impact that is measurable.
The overarching objective of IGBC Green Existing MRTS rating is to facilitate MRTS operators in implementation of green strategies, measure their impacts and sustain the performance in the long run, while enhancing commuter comfort and experience.
Station review
The rating system is a voluntary and consensus-based programme. It has been developed with the support of IGBC Green Existing MRTS Technical Committee under the leadership of A K Gupta, director (electrical), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited. Sources said that as part of the project consultants would review the stations of Bandra-Andheri on the Western Railway, Sion-Ghatkopar on the Central Railway, and Vashi-Belapur on the Harbour line based on the IGBC green guidelines, including a review of existing design information and site observations.
"Once this is done, consultants will benchmark existing stations (including buildings and platforms), specify other locations on the corridors and also recommend interventions to improve ratings," an official added.
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