Canadian National has placed the largest power order by a Class I rail carrier in three years, asking for more than 200 ET44AC locomotives to be acquired from General Electric over the next three years, according to a report from Railway Age.
The first round of locomotives are expected to roll off GE Transportation’s assembly line in Texas next year and will be delivered through 2020, Railway Age reported.
For the original article on Railway Age, follow this link.

DOT_Logo_150pxThe High-Speed & Intercity Passenger Rail program (HSIPR) doesn’t just mean faster trains and improved transportation choices for travelers across the country – it’s also strengthening the economy and creating jobs for people who may have never been on a train. So far, the U.S. Department of Transportation has invested $808 million in multi-state procurements of next-generation rail equipment.

What have we got in return?

Across the country, our Buy America program, which requires 100 percent of all rail equipment to be American made, is spurring economic growth and laying a foundation for a passenger rail network that is safer, faster, more reliable, and offers more service.

Read the complete story at www.dot.gov.

 

In 2011, U.S. railroad companies consumed a little over 3 billion gallons of diesel, nearly 5.5 percent of the total consumption for the entire country.

Oil is currently much more expensive than natural gas, which thanks to the shale boom, is at record low prices in the U.S. Switching engines to run on LNG instead of diesel is expected to help operators drastically cut their costs. Yet while most energy experts have predicted that LNG will not be ready for widespread consumption across the rail industry for a decade or more, Railway Age has stated that LNG powered locomotives will be common on U.S. railroads by 2016.

Read the complete story at Oil Price.com.

 

Amtrak LogoWASHINGTON — Amtrak rolled out three new locomotives on Monday, the first step in the railroad’s plan to modernize its aging fleet of trains.

The three are the first of 70 new locomotives the railroad is buying to operate on the Northeast Corridor between Washington and Boston. Amtrak said they would operate at speeds up to 125 miles per hour on the Northeast route, matching the top speed of its current regional trains. 

Read the complete story at The New York Times.