Riding the Tram to a Cleaner, Greener Future

Keolis Downer – the proud operator of Yarra Trams – is making a major contribution to tackling climate change, reducing our operation’s emissions by approximately 90 per cent since 2018.

Since taking on the franchise to operate Melbourne’s tram network in 2009, Keolis Downer Yarra Trams has partnered with the Victorian State Government to lead from the front in the transition to renewable energy.

Keolis Downer has also made significant progress on improving the energy efficiency of the Yarra Trams network while making the tramway more resilient through a climate change adaptation program.

Keolis Downer Yarra Trams CEO Carla Purcell said attaining these deep cuts in emissions only encouraged our operation to redouble its efforts.

“This is a great achievement everyone at Keolis Downer Yarra Trams should be immensely proud of,” she said.

“We will continue to act strongly on climate change and emissions reduction, and we will go further, finding even greater reductions for the betterment of our environment and community.”

Emissions reductions were achieved through a range of measures and initiatives.

Keolis Downer Yarra Trams worked with the State Government on the Solar Trams initiative, connecting our network to an immense solar farm at Numurkah, north of Shepparton. This allows us to link approximately 75,000 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable energy to the operation of our trams every year.

But we didn’t stop there. More than 800 solar panels and LED lighting have been installed across our depots with support from the Victorian Government’s Greener Government Building Fund.

Combined, the depot systems are capable of generating more than 500 megawatt-hours of electricity a year. The panels power depot operations, and feed excess electricity back into the grid to provide clean energy to the community.

Electricity generated by these systems can be viewed through dashboards that can be accessed for each depot, allowing us to monitor our energy demand and find new efficiencies.

After conducting a full audit of our scope one and two emissions, we’re investing to reduce our emissions even further.

Keolis Downer Yarra Trams is now preparing to electrify our petrol-powered vehicle fleet. We have developed a zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) transition plan and are preparing to trial ZEVs and charging infrastructure. This follows the hybridisation of our petrol passenger vehicle fleet in May last year, seven months ahead of schedule.

And we continue to press forward with measures to make our tram network more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

We’re trialling green roofs on our tram stops and experimenting with cooling surface treatments on our trams and infrastructure, all to contribute to adapting to the impacts of climate change. We’re working with our partners as well to identify problem areas on the network for heat and flooding to prepare for higher temperatures and rainfall, installing modular IoT devices to better monitor these areas.

Through a review of our scope three emissions, we’re also looking at emissions in our supply chain processes to find further reductions, such as using concrete with less emissions-intensive mixes, and sourcing locally made components to cut transport emissions.

Sustainable transport is a key part of reducing national and global emissions, and Melbourne’s tram network has made a significant contribution over more than a century by allowing people to leave their cars at home and travel around the city.

We want to go further though. As a public transport operator with operations across the world, it’s vital we continue to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions footprint to fight climate change, ensure our natural resources are protected and our assets remain resilient for future generations.

We’re bringing that global experience and best practice here to Melbourne’s tram network in partnership with the Victorian State Government.

Through these efforts, we will continue to reduce our environmental footprint year on year and strive to lead in the fight against climate change.