NS is one of the biggest electricity consumers in the Netherlands. 90% is for traction – used for running the trains – and 10% is for our buildings. Our aim is to be climate-neutral by 2020. That is why we want to use energy as responsibly as possible. We brought the switch to 100% green power for trains on the main rail network forward to 1 January 2017. This was possible because new wind farms are being completed more quickly than expected. We will also keep investing in new and upgraded trains that are much more efficient in their electricity consumption. We can improve occupancy rates by deploying trains more efficiently and tempting passengers to travel during off-peak hours. We also encourage energy-saving driving and shunting where possible. Incidentally, this resulted in less energy saved in 2016 than the year before, particularly because we deployed extra rolling stock to increase the number of seats available to passengers.

Energy consumption

In 2016, an average of 71.9 Wh of energy was used per passenger-kilometre. That is higher than in 2015 (71.0 Wh/passenger-km). The increase is largely due to the efforts made to provide more seats for passengers (during peak times): we deployed more trains, which led to lower occupancy rates in the trains. We were also deploying older, less efficient rolling stock again.

Emissions

CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre went down considerably to 9.5 grams compared to 2015 (at 16.0 grams/passenger-km). This is due to the growing proportion of green power. As was the objective, 73% of our trains ran on green power in 2016 (51% in 2015). The designated wind farms that provide us with green power have now all been completed. This was earlier than planned.
We also measure the emissions of replacement bus transport. The measured emissions include the distance between the fixed parking location and the place at which they are used. In 2016 this resulted in CO₂ emissions of 0.4 grams/passenger-km. As soon as NS trains run fully on green power, these emissions will become even higher compared to the remaining CO₂ emissions. NS is continuing to focus on energy efficiency through purchases of more efficient rolling stock and energy-saving driving and shunting. This was laid down in the MJA3, the third Long-Term Agreement.

Energy consumption of NS trains in the Netherlands (electricity and diesel, including replacement buses, converted to GWh)

Grams of CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre for train transport by NS in the Netherlands