NEW YORK — Metro-North Railroad plans to purchase 13 battery-electric locomotives from Siemens Mobility for service in and out of Penn Station when Metro-North’s New Haven Line starts serving that station through the Penn Access project.
The battery-electric versions of the Siemens Charger locomotive will generally draw power from catenary, then switch to battery mode in and around Penn Station, where the electrical power system differs. This will be a first in North America, Metro-North says. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and Chicago’s Metra have both announced plans for battery-electric commuter trains, but those plans call for multiple-unit trainsets that will mostly run on battery power, charging at the endpoints of their runs.
The locomotives will be purchased by exercising an option on an existing contract with Siemens, which is already building 33 dual-mode locomotives that will operate with diesel or third-rail electric power. The new units are expected to be similar in appearance to those SC42DM locomotives, the first two of which were unveiled last November.
“These new locomotives, powered exclusively by electricity but capable of operating on non-electrified lines via battery, will take a technology that is common in Europe and use it to revolutionize railroading in North America,” Tim Mullgan, MTA chief of rolling stock program, said in a press release. “The battery-electric locomotives will enable Metro-North to provide reliable, extremely environmentally friendly service using existing electrified infrastructure.”
The Penn Access project will use Amtrak’s Hell Gate Line to bring Metro-North trains to Penn Station, and will add four new commuter rail stations on that line in the Bronx. Ground was broken in 2022 [see “Groundbreaking marks start of work …,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 10, 2022]. Completion is expected in 2027.
“In a few years, Metro-North’s Penn Access service will revolutionize how New Haven Line customers travel around the region, creating a link between communities in the Bronx and employment opportunities in West Midtown and along the New Haven Line in Westchester County and Connecticut,” said Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi. “What better way to inaugurate this new service than with cutting edge battery-electric locomotives that will set a new standard for environmental friendliness and overall reliability?”
The purchase still must be approved by the MTA board. That is expected to happen at the next board meeting, on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Outside of being “green” why introduce another new locomotive type into the mix since the MTA and LIRR are all ready getting the next generation EMD FL-9 that used to ply the rails in the NY metro area in and out of both GCT and NYP.
Apparently the MTA has given up on extending the DC third rail to the 60/25 hz gap on the entry into NYP so the dual mode M8 EMU’s who can’t enter NYP on 25hz overhead but can tap the DC system used by the LIRR
I understand that the FRA frowns upon two types of electricity on one track but they’ve made exception since the 1900’s
Remember, GCT/MNR uses underrunning third rail and NY Penn/AMTK/LIRR uses overrunning. GCT-MAD uses LIRR equipment thus overrunning third rail. They are not interoperable. The MNR M-8’s have underrunning third rail shoes and cannot run in NY-Penn without changing third rail equipment.
Rule of thumb: whatever PRR did, NYC did the opposite.
There must be a consultant involved. There already are electric motors that can run on either 25 Hz power or 60 Hz power. Think AEM-7 and ACS-64.
The article doesn’t mention any MNR line that is not electrified, so ARE they planning to use the Siemens motors on nonelectrified MNR branch lines East of New Rochelle? Are they planned for Springfeild or Bradley Airport?