(RailPower Technologies and CSX issued the following news release on January 21.)
VANCOUVER — RailPower Technologies Corp. and CSX Corporation jointly announced today a 90-day lease trial for three Green Goat(R) hybrid yard locomotives in 2004 as part of CSX’s drive for best practices in environmental stewardship.
RailPower(R) President and CEO, Jim Maier said, “CSX operates the largest rail network in the eastern United States. Its intermodal operations provide transportation services across the US and into key markets in Canada and Mexico.
“CSX has over 600 locomotives in switcher service so this trial is a major potential opportunity for our technology. The CSX trial Green Goats will be built on GP9 frames, the same frame as the original unit. CSX has the option to extend the lease by an additional 90 days.”
Mike Munley, assistant vice president – Locomotive Operations for CSX Transportation, said, “As a global transportation leader, we are dedicated to best practices in environmental stewardship both on behalf of our 34,000 employees and the public. This can only be achieved by implementing programs that are practical, sustainable and are married to best available technology. We believe the Green Goat technology has significant potential to be part of our future operations, hence the forthcoming trial.”
Munley said three Green Goats would be involved in the trial for statistical reasons. “We will get much better data by using three Green Goat switchers which will inevitably have varying duty cycles during the six month trial period. Analysis will focus on fuel efficiency and productivity so we can compare Green Goats with conventional switchers in terms of best use of assets from a business and environmental perspective.”