Mumbai's suburban railway network may earn some brownie points in its efforts to overhaul the system to make it energy-efficient and travel-friendly. New braking and duct systems have been introduced in some coaches. But grey areas remain.

"Every year we buy power worth Rs 300 crore to run the suburban railways. Late last year, we introduced new trains with regenerative braking system. It involves a machine that supplies electrical energy back to the overhead power lines, used by other trains in the same service line. We estimate 35 per cent of energy will be saved,' says P C Sehgal, managing director, Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation Ltd (mrvc).

The energy saving will get translated to saving Rs 100 crore annually