Passenger Trains on Track to Go Green

From The Australian:

SAKU, Japan: Winding through rice paddies and lazily blowing its whistle along bubbly creeks, a two-car train in rural northern Japan is the latest entrant in the battle against global warming. Following its runaway success with hybrid cars, Japan is bringing the world hybrid trains. Regular passenger runs are set to begin tomorrow on a short mountain route, the first time a diesel-electric hybrid train will be put into commercial service. "It's part of our efforts to be green," Yasuaki Kikuchi, a spokesman for East Japan Railway Co, said during an exclusive trial run for Associated Press. Compared to cars, trains are a relatively small contributor to global warming. In the US, railways contribute just 4 per cent of transport-related emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming. But the popularity of hybrid cars, such as Toyota's best-selling Prius, is helping to boost interest in hybrid trains. Railway companies around the world, including Amtrak in the US and Germany's Deutsche Bahn AG, are working on or investigating the technology.

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