Amtrak recently issued a request for information, seeking options to transform the company’s rail fleet to zero-emissions technology.
Reponses will be used to inform future procure decisions.
Amtrak’s request supports the US National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization by 2050, and the company has committed to achieve net zero emissions by 2045.
“Finding the cleanest technologies to carry customers across our vast network will be transformative as we deliver a new era of rail,” Amtrak President Roger Harris said. “We are excited to take this important step toward providing safe and reliable service with a smaller impact on the environment.”
The company already has committed to purchasing more than half of the company’s electricity from carbon-free sources with the goal of achieving 100 percent by 2030 and to doubling ridership from 2019 levels to 66 million riders annually by 2040.
In May 2023, it supported its California partners’ switch to renewable diesel on Amtrak Capitol Corridor, Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquins trains.
Currently, much of Amtrak’s passenger fleet is powered by zero-emission equipment.
Amtrak has ordered 28 all-electric, high-speed Acela trains designed to use 40 percent less energy per passenger than the existing Acela fleet and 83 Airo trains that produce 90 percent less particulate emissions.