The role of urban railway in ecological and economical perspectives of Mashhad city transport

The aim of the present research was to study environmental effects of Mashhad city transport using ecological method, and to evaluate its economical outputs on citizens. The method used in this research was ecological footprint, which determines the relation between "consumption and waste production by humans" and "resource production and waste absorption by nature".The current research is conducted based on the considering of the present situation as the basic scenario and compare it with the future situation of development and operation of other railway network lines as the ideal scenario. According to the results obtained from the first scenario (The current trend continuation), Mashhad city transport ecological footprint will rise from 0.11 ha per person in 2013 to 0.14 ha in the year of 2025. Energy consumption in transportation sector will be 54 million Gj, of which gasoline share solely is 69% among all forms of energy. Based on the ideal scenario and by completion of rail network, energy consumption will fall to 44 million Gj and ecological footprint will remain 0.11 ha per person, which in addition of having environmental positive effects, leads to gasoline consumption reduction and economic improvement. Therefore, saving resulting from gasoline consumption reduction can solely justify constructional costs of Mashhad Railway Company.