Mark Szakonyi, Associate Editor | Aug 15, 2012 1:04PM EDT
Union Pacific Railway will spend $20 million to test 25 locomotives with emissions-reducing technology in California, as the railroad works to meet new federal pollution standards that begin in 2015.
The experimental locomotives are intermediate line-haul units and have an operating range of about 200 miles. The vehicles will be based in two UP rail yards in California and will only be used within the state.
The railroad will use one of the locomotives to test the combined use of exhaust gas recirculation, diesel oxidation catalyst and diesel particulate filtering. UP said the use of all three technologies in one locomotive is the closest an Electro-Motive Diesel has come to meeting the Environmental Protection Agency’s Tier 4 standards. The new standards allow 45 percent less nitrogen oxide emissions than the current Tier 2 standard, and mandate an 85 percent reduction in particulate matter emissions.
The testing of the 25 locomotives will last through 2014. The company has spent roughly $6.56 billion on new locomotives to meet EPA standards since 2000, and additional $200 million has been spent to upgrade its fleet.
Contact Mark Szakonyi at mszakonyi@joc.com. Follow him on Twitter @szakonyi_joc.
