Title - High speed rail will help cut down on environmental pollution

There could be a welcome spin-off to introducing the High Speed Rail between Bangalore and Mysore. It may cut down carbon dioxide emission by 31.32 % according to experts from the Indian Institute of Science following a recent survey.

The experts found that a large chunk of carbon emissions currently comes from private mode users (cars and two-wheelers) as their emission rate is high. “The policy-makers should look at ways to make rail-based mode of transport more attractive. Instead of investing in highway corridors, improvement can be done in the HSR corridor and movement within the city can be improved,” said Ashish Verma, assistant professor, department of civil engineering, Indian Institute of Science. Varun Raturi, along with Verma, did this survey.

The Indian government is looking at HSR as a possible mode of transport. Many feasibility studies have been undertaken and the state government too has done many infrastructure projects, one of which is the HSR link. However, given that HSR has not yet been implemented in India, there are few studies. asWe have undertaken this study to largely look at the practicality of introducing HSR in the state. “We will submit it to state government officials,” said Verma.

Data collection

* Data collected through surveys at bus-stands, railway stations, onboard trains between Bangalore and Mysore and National Highway 17 and restaurants

* Provided information about socio-economic status and travel behaviour of sample population and their willingness to shift to HSR. Bangalore-Mysore corridor taken as study area

* Target population were passengers travelling from Bangalore to Mysore with 290 interviews

* Each individual given six choice situations, thus making a total of 1740 observations

Emission calculation

* Daily passenger kilometres of travel: Derived by multiplying daily number of passengers with distance of trip i.e. 144km.

* Calculating total emission from vehicle travelled during a year: Determined by multiplying annual passenger kilometre with standard value of vehicle emissions for different modes