#Delhi #Metro is 1st #rail network to earn carbon credits

The Delhi Metro has become the world’s first rail network to earn carbon credits from the United Nations for helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reports Voice of America. Only a handful of public transport systems globally have earned carbon credits; New Delhi’s metro is the first rail network to qualify.

Launched in 2002 in a city of about 14 million people, the system runs partly underground and partly on elevated tracks through some of the city’s most crowded areas, carrying about two-million passengers a day. The U.N. statement says the system has reduced emission of harmful gases and pollution levels by 630,000 tons a year, mostly due to a regenerative braking process that helps save energy by nearly 30 percent.

Environmentalists have long focused on the need to reduce the amount of carbon-emitting vehicles on roadways of India’s mega cities, and it is estimated that New Delhi’s metro eliminates about 90,000 such trips every day. The carbon credits afford the rail network $9.5 million annually over the next seven years, part of a U.N. scheme that incentivizes companies in developing countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The world-renowned Delhi Metro will host the highly anticipated MetroRail Asia 2011, the premier C-level forum for India’s metro industry. Meet top executives from Delhi Metro and learn more about their winning green practices, and how you can replicate this to your network. Check out the MetroRail Asia brochure to see how you can benefit from this show!