Across transportation hubs – from city metros to international airports and ports – Schneider Electric’s connected equipment and AI-powered digital analytics support transport operators to electrify, digitalize and decarbonize their services to meet ambitious sustainability goals.
Transportation accounts for over a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in North America and Europe, making decarbonization essential for global sustainability. Ambitious net zero goals and growing demand are driving the urgent transition to reliable, electric-powered mobility. Meeting these targets requires transformative action, reflected in the projected $50 trillion investment needed for global transport infrastructure by 2040.
In their scale and complexity, the challenges facing transport providers in meeting these needs are immense. From electrifying dense urban metros in Asia to modernizing legacy rail in Europe, each global region faces unique issues that demand flexible, scalable solutions. This requires operators to build and manage electrical infrastructure that not only meets current expectations, but can also grow in line with future demands.
The path forward requires proven expertise and cutting-edge technology. Schneider Electric delivers this through EcoStruxure Power: our integrated platform of tested, validated digital solutions and services for power distribution systems. By combining IoT-connected sensors with AI-powered insights, the technology offers the reliability and flexibility necessary to achieve electrification and decarbonization ambitions across diverse industries and locations. From primary equipment to operational management systems and cloud-based analytics, its end-to-end support allows customers to build and manage innovative infrastructure for robust, efficient and safer operations.
We’re shaping a future where smart, sustainable transportation drives the energy transition – empowering communities with resilient and electrified infrastructure. Our technologies play a pivotal role in accelerating decarbonization and electrification across key sectors: rail and urban mobility, airports, and ports. We explore below how each of these industries can join us in powering this transformation.
Rail and urban networks
Rail and urban transport operators face challenging decarbonization goals (such as the International Union of Railways’ pledge of net zero by 2050) alongside rising demand in the passenger and freight markets. Urbanization and high-speed rail are driving the urgent need for more electric transport. And efficient movement of trains, buses, and trams is only part of the challenge – supporting infrastructure like stations, tunnels, and signalling systems requires nearly as much power.
Operators must rapidly modernize rail and urban electrical systems – from upgrading stations and overhead lines to deploying data centers and electric bus networks. Managing these systems safely and reliably is critical, especially when facing risks like electrocution, heavy usage, and extreme weather.
EcoStruxure™ Power enables safe, sustainable, and resilient transport infrastructure. It supports modernization across rail and urban transport – from stations and tunnels to depots – with digital twin tools enhancing design and efficiency. Specialized solutions power and manage e-bus depots, ensuring reliable charging with microgrid integration. For railways and urban transportation, EcoStruxure Power delivers advanced energy management, predictive maintenance, and seamless integration of renewables – driving operational excellence and net-zero progress.
Download our reference guide: EcoStruxure Power for Rail and Urban Transportation
Airports
Airport Council International’s Airport Carbon Accreditation program, which includes hundreds of airports, highlights the sector’s growing momentum to decarbonize. Airports must meet challenging sustainability goals amid urgent demand pressures such as rapidly rising passenger traffic and a growing need to charge electric vehicles (which in the future could include eVTOLs and electric planes).
In the future, many airports will need to expand their terminal buildings to accommodate increased passenger numbers. As critical infrastructure, airports must also prioritize reliability: the financial and reputational costs of a shutdown can be huge, including unhappy passengers, damaged trust and contractual penalties. The challenge often lies not just in designing robust power systems, but in ensuring sufficient energy availability to address evolving needs. That’s why many airports have adopted on-site solar generation; however, to make this energy source both reliable and dispatchable, it must be integrated with appropriate digital solutions.
EcoStruxure Power allows airports to build and modernize resilient, flexible electrical infrastructure to respond effectively to this situation. With its digital twin tools, for instance, they can rapidly design and build systems to power new terminal buildings. And a range of innovative power management solutions enable airports to operate and maintain new electrical infrastructure safely and reliably. Those facing grid constraints can combine on-site generation with microgrid systems and battery storage to ensure a more consistent supply.
Download our reference guide: EcoStruxure Power for the Airport Industry
Ports
Ports will have a crucial role to play in meeting ambitious decarbonization goals. Stringent new regulations, such as the US Clean Shipping Act and the FuelEU Maritime initiative, are creating an urgent need for clean power, which ports must meet while facing consistent annual traffic growth.
The scale of the energy transition that ports are undergoing means the estimated power demand will be four to five times its current level. A critical driver – mandatory in the EU, as well as in California and at major ports in China – is the need for onshore power to supply vessels at berth so they can switch off their on-board diesel generators. Electric vehicle fleets, electrified lifting equipment and the growing need for ‘reefers’ (refrigerated containers) all add further demand – requiring a high level of system resilience. The challenge of managing these operations optimally is intensified through workforce skills gaps and aging infrastructure and legacy systems.
With EcoStruxure Power, ports can rapidly build new electrical infrastructure to provide reliable shore power to large vessels. Innovative solutions such as microgrids boost resilience, allowing operators to respond confidently to rising demand. Meanwhile, unified operations management delivers scalability and the efficient use of resources, helping ports overcome workforce and capacity challenges.
Download our reference guide: EcoStruxure Power for Ports
EcoStruxure Power: Your end-to-end partner for sustainable transformation
EcoStruxure Power enables transport providers to build reliable, flexible electrical infrastructure and digital architectures that support diverse needs. Our end-to-end solutions drive the three pillars of modern transport – electrification, digitalization, and decarbonization. With modular, scalable technology, you can quickly deploy systems for today’s demands and seamlessly expand them for tomorrow’s challenges.
EcoStruxure Power supports transport operators across the entire project lifecycle – from planning with digital design tools, to efficient asset and energy management through real-time monitoring, and ongoing optimization via system-wide analytics. Built-in cybersecurity, backed by certified solutions and expert guidance, ensures robust protection at every layer.
Backed by decades of expertise in energy management and a global partner ecosystem, Schneider Electric empowers businesses to modernize their electrical infrastructure through our EcoStruxure Power solutions and services. As the journey to net-zero transport accelerates, our digital technologies and collaborative approach don’t just make decarbonization and electrification possible – they make them eminently achievable.
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