January 1, 2017 – All electric passenger trains in the Netherlands are now powered entirely by the wind. The impressive feat has been achieved one year ahead of schedule, announced Dutch railway company NS.

"Since 1 January, 100% of our trains are running on wind energy," commented NS spokesman Ton Boon. "So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned."

According to Dutch electric company Eneco, which signed a 10-year deal with NS two years ago, 600,000 passengers are now "the first in the world" to travel by wind energy. On an average day, 5,500 trains are operated by NS, which is one of the largest railway companies in the Netherlands.

Because electric trains on the NS use approximately1.2 billion kWh of electricity each year (the equivalent of all households in the city of Amsterdam), the new development is expected to have positive repercussions for the environment.