Sierra Northern Railway tests hydrogen-fueled switcher

Sierra Northern Railway last month completed testing of the first four-axle, hydrogen-fueled zero-emission switching locomotive in West Sacramento, California, company officials announced yesterday. 

The demonstration of the switcher was funded through a $4 million grant to fund the design, integration and demonstration of a hydrogen fuel cell switching locomotive from the California Energy Commission and administered through GTI Energy, Sierra Northern officials said in a press release.

Demonstration and validation of the switcher locomotive establishes a platform for widespread commercialization in the immediate future, Sierra Northern Railway officials said. Short line and switching locomotives account for a significant share of the total locomotive energy use in California as they carry a significant portion of freight in the state and operate on the first and last miles of the national freight network. This makes short-line operations an excellent testbed for the demonstration of zero-emission technologies and a key to decarbonizing transportation emissions, company officials said.

"Sierra’s successful test proves that short lines can retire pre-Tier 0 to Tier 4 diesel locomotives and replace them with a hydrogen-powered, zero-emission switcher locomotives using our advanced hydrogen powered units,” said Sierra Northern Railway President Kennan Beard III, who announced the demonstration at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association's annual meeting this week in Denver.

The demonstration will help facilitate the improvement of local air quality by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, noise and odor for the communities where short lines operate. Most switcher locomotives in California use an average of 50,000 gallons of diesel per year per switcher, potentially leading to a reduction of more than 12 million gallons of diesel per year, according to Sierra Northern Railway. That is near equivalent to the same amount of fuel used each year by 20,000 light-duty vehicles.