More Positive News from India: Kolkata Buses Run on Biodiesel Blend

Treehugger has this very interesting entry on Kolkata Trams running on a biodiesel blend in an attempt at reducing bus generated pollution in the city by about a third: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/calcutta-tramways-buses-make-switch-biodiesel-blend.php

Hat's off to the Indian Railways who also own the Kolkata Tramways Corporation for this feat. Indian Railways already use some quantities of biodiesel and I hope they go from strength to greater strength. Now, will other cities across the country please take note?

One Asset the Government of India Should Buy if the US Government Sells it Off

There is a considerable amount of anti rail feeling in this country with even a magazine that is for low tech and good environmental policies critiqueing rail travel: http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/train-travel.html Further, the $ 1 billion stimulus package for the US government owned rail system, Amtrak www.amtrak.com has attracted a lot of criticism from people who think that the US government needs to sell Amtrak off. Apparently, Amtrak has not made a profit in over 40 years. As far as freght trainsa re concerned, too, the Americans seem bad at managing them - most of the rail freight companies have been bought up by Canadian businesses and the Canadians seem to have made them quite profitable, thank you, where the Americans simply couldn't figure out how to make money from them.

I do think, here, that of the US Government decides to sell Amtrak off, the Indian Railways should seriously consider buying them. Coal India Ltd has been buying up coal mines in this country and that is an Indian government owned business. And Indian Railways know how to run and manage a rail business - they move more people than any other system of transportation anywhere else in the world, they employ more people than any single employer anywhere on earth and they make good profits even in bad years in India. If there is anyone who could make Amtrak profitable, it is them. This is not something that I am joking about - as a blog that looks at showing fossil fuel the fist, I do think that the railways are a superb way of reducing pollution and what the American government cannot manage could be run mroe profitably by those with an established record in this area. I hope this happens - it would be good for Amtrak, for the Indian Railways and for a world that is being polluted increasingly day by day.

Railways Are Back

As someone who was born and lived in a country with the world's largest and most successful rail network, I should be proud of this. Green Daily has highlighted the enormous advantages that rail has over roads in the economical transportation of goods in this post: http://www.greendaily.com/2008/08/31/railroads-a-nineteenth-century-technology-for-the-21st-century/ However, this does not mean that there is no scope for improvement. India's rail networks are old and the engine and coach technology dates back to the 1950s. There is scope for developing the networks to make compartments more comfortable for passengers, for making goods carriers more efficient and for the use of more fuel efficient engines. Somehow, my fear is that with the success of the rail network as far as generating profits in India is concerned, the government may become complacent and decide to leave possible improvements alone. That would be a terrible shame. I hope that I am proven wrong in this suspicion.