The move to zero-emission locomotives is picking up electrons—not steam—with Metra’s announcement that it will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) challenging manufacturers to convert three of its older F40PH-3 diesels to battery power.
Despite Board approval for entering into a definitive merger agreement with an affiliate of Veritas Capital, Cubic Corp. is considering a new, unsolicited bid proposal. Kaleris, a cloud-based transportation and asset management solutions provider, has teamed with Buckeye Mountain to deliver mobile computing and wireless networking services for rail and truck transportation providers, intermodal companies, and industrial and finished goods shippers. Electro-Motive Diesel Limited has extended its full-service contract with GB Railfreight.
Already the leader in fuel-efficient surface transportation, the railroad industry is now making every effort to be a part of the solution to improving the environment, and the short line industry is all in on a variety of fronts.
An advanced microprocessor-based interlocking technology for the Eurasian market from Progress Rail (A Caterpillar Company) subsidiary ECM S.p.A. of Italy will be tested in a new LocoTech-Signal research laboratory in Moscow, Russia.
Engineering, procurement and construction contractor Bodi International has entered into an agreement with Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company, to purchase 16 EMD® SD70Ace/LW locomotives for Mongolia’s Tavantolgoi-Gashuunsukhait Railway project.
RAILWAY AGE, FEBRUARY 2021 ISSUE: First steam. Then Electric. Then diesel. Then batteries. Next: Hydrogen fuel cells?
Progress Rail, a Caterpillar company, has teamed with Anacostia Rail Holdings subsidiary Pacific Harbor Line (PHL) to test its new EMD® Joule battery electric locomotive in the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Calif., during the second half of 2021.
RAILWAY AGE, NOVEMBER 2020 ISSUE: While most aspects of railroading have not been immune from the effects of COVID-19—namely, a drop in business—many railroads have been “working smart” and thinking ahead, taking advantage of lower traffic levels to get a jump on maintenance-of-way projects, before work windows re-tighten when operations return to pre-pandemic levels. State-of-good-repair and other projects are continuing, and railroads are using a variety of high-production, high-tech-driven track machines to perform the work. Ballast programs are among the most important of these.
RAILWAY AGE, OCTOBER 2020 ISSUE: Gauge-holding capability, resiliency, noise reduction, ease of installation and maintenance, low life-cycle cost, safety: Railroads rely on fasteners with these qualities to perform under heavy traffic.
RAILWAY AGE, AUGUST 2020 ISSUE: Improvements in train handling, fuel efficiency and safety are all possible through the advanced microprocessor technology quickly becoming standard on locomotives.