All 600,000 Dutch passengers that travel daily via train can now do so thanks to wind energy. The national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) announced that 100% of passenger trains will be powered by wind energy beginning January 1, 2017, onwards.
The rollout is a world first and is a result of a 2015 agreement between NS and Dutch electricity company, Eneco. The two had initially intended to make every NS train run entirely on wind power by January 2018, but the plan moved ahead of schedule.
“NS uses the same amount of energy as the city of Amsterdam,” NS spokesman Ton Boon said. “And the electricity is supplied from newly built wind farms. With this we lead by example: this contract will boost the production of green energy; we hope that other companies will follow this in their coming contracts.”
Reaching the goal earlier than planned will also add an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of the Netherlands. Eneco has invested in new wind farms and other green energy production, promising to supply green electricity that is directly traceable to the source. Additionally, NS will have a minimum of 2% efficiency driving and economic trains. Together, NS and Eneco ensure a climate-neutral traveling experience.
One windmill running for an hour can power one train across approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles), according to NS. Three strokes of an Eneco wind turbine drives a railway train one kilometer. This sustainable mode of travel will allow for longer distances. Additionally, 1.2 million train journeys per day will be without CO2 emissions. The company expects that this will reduce the energy used per passenger by 35% by 2020 compared to 2005.
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