Hydrogen-battery switcher locomotive enters service in the US

A hydrogen-battery switcher locomotive has entered service in the United States: since autumn, the four-axle unit has been used at the facilities of freight operator Sierra Northern Railway in West Sacramento.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The project has been underway since 2021, and the California Energy Commission (California Energy Commission (CEC)) provided a $4 million grant for it.

Modernization base: Railpower RP20BD and hydrogen traction

The conversion is based on the Railpower RP20BD from Railpower Technologies—a locomotive produced from 2008 through the overhaul of older units. Under the “diesel-to-hydrogen-and-battery” modernization approach, the locomotive was fitted with two hydrogen fuel cells from Canada’s Ballard rated at 120 kW each, along with batteries with a capacity of 500 kWh.

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The project and the parameters of hydrogen-battery traction were also noted by Railway Supply. It is stated that the locomotive can operate for 80–100 hours, and refueling takes up to two hours.

Funding and plans: three more locomotives by the end of 2026

In summer 2023, Sierra Northern Railway secured additional funding—$19.5 million from the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD).

The funds are intended to modernize three more diesel locomotives in the same way, with all four locomotives planned to enter service by the end of 2026—something also reported by KCRA 3. Earlier in the US, another switcher diesel locomotive was converted to hydrogen using Ballard technologies as part of a project by operators CSX and CKPC.

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