Seibu Railway has announced that from January 1, 2024, all of its trains will run on electricity from 100% renewable sources and that it will operate with effectively zero CO2 emissions. According to the railway company, the reduction in CO2 emissions will be equivalent to the amount produced by 57,000 households.
Seibu Shinjuku Line 30000 series train. All Seibu trains will run on renewable energy from January 1st
Seibu Railway is a private railway company in northern Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture operating 12 important commuter lines that include the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and Seibu Shinjuku Line. This railway company transports around 1.53 million passengers every day.
Seibu Railway initially introduced renewable energy sources to the Seibu Yamaguchi Line in April 2021, to power the Leo Liner that runs between Higashimurayama in Tokyo and Tokorozawa in Saitama. The Leo Liner runs on power generated at a solar power station operated by the Seibu Group.
However, from January 2024, Seibu Railway will be using energy provided by the energy retail company TEPCO Energy Partner, which provides its customers with an option for renewable energy sources. In this way, Seibu Railway will be able to power all its trains on all routes with 100% renewable energy all year round.
In 2018, the Seibu Group set itself a goal of reducing group-wide CO2 emissions by 46% by 2030. The renewable energy initiative by Seibu Railway will reduce emissions for the entire group by approximately 50%.
Seibu Railway is actually the second Japanese railway company to switch to completely renewable energy sources. Tokyu Railways achieved its 100% renewable energy goal in the spring of 2022.
Article by Michael Lambe. Photo by tarousite/pixta. All rights reserved.
