(The following appeared at CBS13.com on July 23, 2009.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Your next train trip the Bay Area could be a little more green.
Today Amtrak California unveiled its first “clean diesel” locomotive on the Capitol Corridor line.
While that might sound like an oxymoron, “clean diesel” engines run about fifty percent cleaner than the old locomotive engines.
This is just the first of fifteen locomotives Caltran and Amtrak California hope to run in the next two years.
“It’s part of our initiative to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and so our entire fleet is being looked at…and so we have 15 of these and this is the first,” said Caltran Chief Deputy Director Randy Iwasaki.
Caltran estimates it needs about $7 million to do the rest and is hoping some grants come through.
Passengers won’t notice a difference in the ride, but they can feel good about “going green”.