Today, we begin our countdown of the Trains News Wire Top 10 stories of 22, as determined by a vote of Trains editors, columnists, and masthead correspondents. Up today, stories Nos. 10 and 9. The railroad industry’s search for alternatives to diesel-electric power continued to move forward in 2022, with manufacturers and railroads making inroads […]
FORT WORTH, Texas — Railroading’s path is clearly heading away from the diesel-electric locomotive, the builders of those locomotives agree. Where that path leads is far less clear, representatives of Alstom, Progress Rail, Siemens, and Wabtec said in a discussion at last week’s Railway Supply Institute Conference. Battery power, hydrogen, and hybrids of all sorts […]
OMAHA — Union Pacific, which has already made the biggest commitment to battery-electric locomotives of any North American Class I railroad, is taking another big step into alternative forms of motive power. The company announced today (Thursday, Oct. 6) that it will partner with green technology firm ZTR to build hybrid-electric locomotives at its North […]
BERLIN — Wabtec has presented a range of new technology at the InnoTrans trade fair intended to enable rail operators to reduce fuel bills while offering shippers more efficient and predictable service. In a series of exclusive interviews with Trains News Wire, Wabtec executives outlined the likely transition from diesel to alternative fuel types for […]
OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific has issued $600 million in green bonds to support investments that will reduce the railroad’s carbon footprint, including battery electric locomotives. The bond deal was finalized on Sept. 9, UP said on Monday. Proceeds will be directed to the purchase of battery electric locomotives, locomotive modernizations, expansion of intermodal terminals, […]
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s legislature is moving to pass a law that would require Union Pacific to use yard locomotives powered “wholly by a hydrogen fuel cell or electric power” in Salt Lake City no later than Jan. 1, 2028 — despite the railroad’s contention that the bill mandates an action not yet technologically […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific will purchase 20 battery-electric locomotives to test in yard service, the largest commitment to date for the technology by any rail operator. In separate announcements Friday, the railroad announced purchase of 10 Wabtec FLXdrive locomotives and 10 of Progress Rail’s EMD Joule locomotives. The railroad said the cost of the […]
BHP Western Australia Iron Ore has placed orders for battery-electric locomotives from both Wabtec and Progress Rail, becoming the first company to order battery-electric units from both major North American manufacturers. BHP will purchase two of Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives, becoming the second Australian firm in a week and third overall to purchase those units, […]
PITTSBURGH — Wabtec has secured its largest order to date for its FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives, with Australian mining company Rio Tinto ordering four of the units for use in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The locomotives will help Rio Tinto’s effort to reach a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by […]
The rail industry has long touted its energy efficiency compared to other modes of transport, as well as the parallel environmental benefits. But with railroads and their customers both placing more focus on combating climate change, an increasing number of projects are under way to develop alternatives to diesel-electric locomotives. Making the most progress to […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and is more than halfway toward its goal of reducing emissions 26% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels, the railroad said today while unveiling its climate action plan. UP reduced emissions by 20% from 2018 to 2020 thanks to a combination […]
NEW YORK — Wabtec is on a mission to help railroads wean themselves off the diesel-electric locomotive to reduce and ultimately eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. “We are absolutely taking a moonshot at zero emissions,” Gina Trombley, Wabtec’s executive vice president of sales and marketing and chief commercial officer, told the RailTrends 2021 conference this month. […]
