Ballard Power Systems to provide fuel cells for CP’s hydrogen locomotive
Fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems will be used in Canadian Pacific’s project to develop a hydrogen-powered road locomotive. The Ballard fuel cells will provide 1.2 megawatts of electricity, working with batteries to power the traction motors of the locomotive, being converted from diesel power. “With this purchase from Ballard, a leader in the hydrogen fuel cell industry, CP further demonstrates its commitment to developing the next generation of locomotive — one that produces zero emissions,” CP CEO Keith Creel said in a press release. “How we power our trains matters to our customers, employees, shareholders and to the communities we operate in. This technology holds the possibility of eliminating emissions from freight train operations, which already represent the most efficient method of moving goods over land.” Ballard will deliver six 200-kilowatt fuel cell modules this year, and provide support for integration of the modules into the locomotives. CP announced the hydrogen locomotive project late last year [see “Canadian Pacific announces plans ..,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 18, 2020]; Creel said recently the locomotive should be in operation in 2022.
MBTA commuter operator permanently furloughs 40 conductors
The contract operator of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail service has permanently furloughed 40 conductors, citing reduced ridership as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. CommonWealth Magazine reports the furloughs represent about 9% of the conductor workforce for Keolis Commuter Services. The furloughs became public when a member of the conductor’s union called into Monday’s meeting of the Fiscal and Management Control Board, which oversees the MBTA, asking the board to overturn the plan.
City, university fund new Oxford, Ohio, Amtrak stop
The city of Oxford, Ohio, and Miami University have committed $700,000 for a new Amtrak stop on the route of the Chicago-Washington, D.C., Cardinal. WCPO-TV reports the funds will got to construction of a platform, which will have an unmanned kiosk. The city is now negotiating with vendors for design and cost estimates. Oxford, about 40 miles north-northwest of Cincinnati, would become the second Ohio stop on the Cardinal’s route.
The assertion that battery or fuel cell use will “eliminate” pollution is nonsense. All it does is displace the source of pollution from the rolling unit to a manufacturing plant producing the hydrogen. And that, boys and girls, is not a pollution free process. Electrolytic generation of hydrogen requires a substantial amount of electricity as does storage and transportation of same. The question of %efficiency of the fuel cells has not been addressed but is certainly a consideration too. Cherry-picking the factors to be considered in energy