(The Associated Press circulated the following on April 22.)
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County commuter train service used Earth Day to roll out its cleanest locomotive.
Metrolink says the diesel-electric hauler introduced Tuesday in Los Angeles is the first of 15 that will go into service over the next year.
The locomotives, which cost nearly $2 million each, use computer technology and electronic fuel injection to keep emissions low and a shut-down feature to reduce idling.
Each is 10 feet longer than a current Metrolink locomotive and can haul 10 coaches instead of six—an extra 1,200 passengers.
Agency spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said the locomotives won’t produce less smog than the current ones because they’re larger. But they do produce 70 percent less smog than freight-hauling locomotives, and may reduce car pollution by expanding public transit.