CSX Transportation announced a new locomotive operating system the Class I plans to implement to lower fuel consumption and meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's tier 0 limit requirements by Jan. 1, 2002.
The system would incorporate an auxiliary power unit that automatically would shut down the main locomotive engine idle — cutting nitrous oxide emissions by 92 percent — while maintaining vital engine systems and reducing fuel consumption.
CSX officials believe the railroad could save between 25 million and 30 million gallons of fuel once its 3,600 locomotives are equipped with the system.
EPA recently approved the system as a certified engine-emission reduction kit, but several patents still are pending.
CSX and London, Ontario-based International Road and Rail formed Jacksonville, Fla.-based EcoTrans Technologies, a joint venture company that would manufacture and sell the kit.
"The basic system platform helps to meet the new federal emissions standards for locomotive engines overhauled after Jan. 1, 2002, and helps to overcome the fuel penalty associated with EPA emission compliance," said EcoTrans President David Miller in a prepared statement.
The system's basic platform is designed to be expandable, enabling individual railroads to include custom safety, performance and diagnostic features per their specifications.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
