By Syed Owais Ali

 Qatar Foundation boasts itself for its steps toward sustainable and efficient use of the earth’s resources. For example, According to Qatar Foundation, the new residence halls in Education City will be producing 16 percent of their electricity through wind and solar power. Similarly, most of the events hosted in the QF Residence Halls by Community Development Advisors (CDAs), now don’t use disposable plates or glasses. Instead, participants have to bring their own. These events usually take place on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and are open to all the students living in the dorms. Therefore, such decisions encourage students living the residence halls towards sustainable living. Qatar Foundation has similar projects running throughout Education City to promote sustainability.

Sounds great, but where does the campus ChuChu train stand in all of this?

In addition to being slow and leading to frequent traffic holdups throughout Education City, this vehicle is also highly unsustainable. I don’t understand how Qatar Foundation justifies running a thirsty engine with two air-conditioned cabins all day long when barely anyone uses it. It is unclear to me where QF wants to go with this experimental vehicle in the future, but if sustainability is in Qatar’s 2030 vision, this vehicle, in its current state, is not the answer. Instead, it is a paradox to what Qatar Foundation is trying to achieve.

Since ChuChu train is the darling of the QF administration, there are a few ways they can actually make this train reasonable and acceptable at least on paper, if not in the real world. For example, QF can easily discard one of the cabins attached. If I’ve got my physics right, this would hopefully increase the speed and acceleration of the vehicle since it will have less weight to pull. With one fewer cabin, it would also use half the energy needed to run. Apart from this, replacing the engine with a hybrid or with a completely electric engine may actually make this train a symbol for Qatar’s sustainable future. At least, I hope so.

Now the only issue left would be its acceptance by the public. Everyone hates this vehicle for its slow speed, and realistically speaking, it will be impossible for it to match the speed of the current shuttle buses. Therefore, the current eco-friendly obsession around the world maybe the only respite for sustainable ChuChu trains. Now, it is QF’s choice to discard this train completely or somehow try to make it more sustainable.