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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a $1.2 million grant for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to convert a locomotive to a clean-diesel engine in an effort to improve air quality in and around rail yards.

SEPTA is repowering the engine of a 1950s-era conventional diesel locomotive with two generator sets and a diesel particulate filter. Slated for completion next year, the project will “drastically cut harmful diesel emissions,” EPA officials said in a prepared statement.

“The GenSet engine project is enabling SEPTA to help clean our air while also generating fuel savings for the authority,” said EPA Regional Administration Shawn Garvin.

The locomotive is one of six in SEPTA’s fleet used for maintenance and repair functions, and to rescue stranded trains.

“This initiative marks another important step forward in SEPTA’s sustainability program,” said SEPTA General Manager Joseph Casey.

GenSet locomotives reduce nitrous oxide and particulate matter emissions by about 80 percent and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent through technologies that monitor engine idling and switch to “sleep” mode after a period of inactivity, EPA officials said.