Sierra Northern Railway, the freight division of Sierra Railroad Co., recently announced that it successfully completed testing of a four-axle hydrogen-fueled, zero-emission switching locomotive.
Switcher locomotives in California use an average of approximately 50,000 gallons annually. The new locomotive has the potential to reduce more than 12 million gallons of diesel annually.
“Sierra Northern Railway is proud that we will continue to lead the industry with low emission switching solutions as we continue to demonstrate that Sierra has achieved what the industry needs to convert to zero emission by integrating advanced hydrogen fuel cells, hydrogen storage, advanced battery and systems control technologies to provide an alternative to less environmentally friendly diesel-powered locomotives,” Kennan H. Beard III, of Sierra Northern Railway president, said.
Sierra Northern Railway is in the process of building three additional zero emission hydrogen fueled switching locomotives. The approximately $19.5 million project will develop, demonstrate, and test the locomotives. The testing will be conducted at Sierra’s West Sacramento, Calif., rail yard.
The project is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2027. It will expand the Sierra’s Hydrogen Zero Emission Switching Locomotive Fleet to a total of four locomotives. The company plans to eventually convert the entire fleet to hydrogen powered zero-emission switchers.