Oslo Rail Gets Environmental Boost

The Norwegian city of Oslo will soon start using specially designed 94% recyclable trains that use 30% less energy, in a timely move that overcomes age-old issues of pollution versus growth.

Developed by Siemens’ Transportation Systems Group, all 63 trains, comprising of 189 cars in total, have already started operating at Oslo’s Metro lines 4 and 6, with deliveries of two trains a month planned for completion midway through 2009.

The lightweight aluminium trains, which run off full motorisation, bring massive energy savings by allowing the train to feed energy created while the trains are braking back into the power network.

A modular design, put together by Australia’s Porsche Design Studio, means that each part can be repaired and replaced easily, bringing down maintenance costs. As much as 85% of all materials on the train can be physically reused, and 10% recycled.

The trains are 54.34m long and weigh 94 tonnes and can move at a top speed of 70km/h.