The inherent advantages of the steel wheel on steel rail, combined with technological advances to improve the efficiency of rolling stock and reduce the emissions of diesel-electric locomotives, allows North American heavy haul freight railways to achieve greater energy efficiency and reduced emissions compared to other land freight transportation modes. In the face of rapidly advancing technology to reduce the energy consumption and emissions of highway trucks, to maintain their position as the “green” transportation mode, freight railroads must continue to advance in both energy efficiency and emissions. Alternative propulsion technology such as battery and hydrogen fuel cell locomotives may eliminate mobile-source carbon emissions, but overall freight rail energy consumption must be reduced to also lower the emissions required to produce, distribute and store alternative sources of energy. The rail industry is thus presented with the dual challenge of both decarbonizing (eliminating the release of carbon) and improving efficiency to reduce the amount of energy expended per unit of transportation. This seminar explores this challenge and the practicalities of changing locomotive propulsion technologies across the integrated, interoperable North American freight railway network with its fleet of 29,000 long-lived locomotive assets and associated servicing infrastructure.
