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Kansas City Southern and the Railroad Research Foundation (RRF) recently received a National Clean Diesel Campaign (NCDC) grant to conduct research on ways to reduce emissions from diesel engines in Shreveport, La., rail yards.

The value of the project’s public benefits would total $8.7 million, primarily from improved air quality, based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates. The EPA established the NCDC to reduce exhaust emissions from new and existing diesel engines.
 
The project calls for installing EPA-verified idle reduction technology on diesel locomotive engines. The project targets 40 switchers that operate in KCS yards in and around Shreveport. EPA funding will cover half of labor and equipment costs, and KCS will fund the remainder.
 
The technology could reduce engine idle time from 50 percent to 90 percent, depending on locomotive usage patterns, thus decreasing emissions while conserving fuel, KCS and RRF officials said in a prepared statement.