advertisement

---

Union Pacific Railroad has joined the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), an organization of major companies involved in fostering environmental, health, safety and sustainability practices.

The Class I will collaborate with GEMI members from other industries as it bolsters its role “as an environmentally responsible freight transportation leader,” said Bob Grimaila, UP vice president-safety, security and environment in a prepared statement.

UP pioneered the GenSet switching locomotive, which uses ultra-low emission, off-road diesel engines. The GenSet can reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen by 80 percent and particulate matter by 90 percent, and cut fuel usage by 37 percent compared with a conventional switcher. UP’s fleet of more than 160 GenSets represents about half of all GenSets operating in the world.

The railroad also employs a fuel-efficiency strategy for its more than 8,000 locomotives and implements an environmental management process that includes various systems and employee training to reduce the railroad’s impact on the environment.