The Indian Railways is experimenting with the new eco-friendly “biodiesel” fuel to run passenger trains. The first successful trial run of a superfast passenger train was conducted on December 31, 2002 when Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi Express used five per cent of "biodiesel'' as fuel.

Indian Railways would be able to not only save on its rising fuel bill but also control the pollution level. Sulphur and lead emissions came down significantly when biodiesel was used, if biodiesel is used, to the extent of 10 per cent mixture with the conventional diesel. The Railways' annual fuel bill of Rs. 3,400 crores for using diesel could be reduced by nearly Rs. 300 crores to 400 crores per annum by using biodiesel. Ultimately, the percentage of biodiesel would go up to 15 per cent as per the accepted global norms.

The new green fuel is extracted from the seeds of the `Jatropha' plant and Indian Oil is now engaged in laboratory tests of biodiesel. The alternative fuel is not only eco-friendly but also provides a renewable source as it is extracted from a plant. Its use would help bring down the emission levels and re-deploy the surplus manpower and contribute to environment protection. The plant can easily be grown on either side of railway tracks as it adopts itself well to arid, semi-arid conditions and demands low fertility and moisture.

The other advantages are the fuel's contribution to national energy pool and the potential of creation of jobs in rural sector. On the global scale, the U.S. and the European Union have taken a number of recent initiatives to promote biodiesel as the clean, green fuel as it has high cetane and lubricity and readily mixes with diesel without any engine modification. It also scores in terms of availability and price. France, Germany and Italy have shown the way in increasing use of biodiesel.