The San Joaquin Valley Flexible Solutions for Freight Facilities project, supported with $22.6 million in funding from the Zero-and Near Zero-Emission Freight Facilities program along with $22.6 million in matched funds from project partners, demonstrated advanced technologies on locomotives and hybrid and zero-emission equipment around rail yards. For one part of this multi-component project, the Wabtec Corporation designed, manufactured, and commissioned a battery-electric locomotive to operate in tandem with two diesel locomotives from BNSF Railway, operating like a hybrid vehicle.
This battery-electric locomotive completed eighteen round trips between Stockton and Barstow from December 12, 2020 and April 2, 2021. During this over 13,300 miles journey, it saved 8,600 gallons of diesel fuel, a 12 percent fuel savings on average. Beyond fuel savings and emission reductions, this demonstration showed that it is possible for the zero-emission battery-electric locomotive to operate solely while passing through populated areas, while the diesel locomotives would operate in less populated areas and help recharge the batteries.
To complement the battery-electric locomotive demonstration, Café Coop, a non-profit organization located in Stockton, California, performed community outreach to residents and key stakeholders located within the area where the project took place. As part of the community outreach, Café Coop created an educational video that provided an overview of the project and explained how the battery-electric locomotive works. They also organized and moderated a bi-lingual webinar presentation that informed the public about the project, the roles the project partners played and how the project impacted their communities.
Eric Gebhardt, Wabtec chief technology officer, believes the success of this part of the project provides an example of one way the freight sector can move forward with zero-emission technologies: “The battery electric locomotive is a defining moment for freight rail and will accelerate the industry toward low to zero-emission locomotives.” Todd DeYoung, Director of Grants and Incentives at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, agrees that this project component, and the project overall, has profound implications: “The Flexible Solutions for Freight Facilities project showcased the real potential of zero-emission technology, especially in a region such as the San Joaquin Valley that faces air quality challenges unmatched by any other region in the nation.”