(Rail Power Technologies issued the following news release on May 26.)
VANCOUVER — RailPower Technologies Corp., announced today that Norfolk Southern will commence a 30-day trial with a Green Goat(R) Series hybrid locomotive at the beginning of August.
RailPower President and CEO, Jim Maier, said “What is significant about this event is the fact that with Norfolk Southern demonstrating the Green Goat locomotive, all of North America’s Class 1’s will have trialed our technology.
Maier continued “It’s taken over three years to trial all the Class 1 railroads. The industry has always been very enthusiastic to conduct trials but with only one trial unit in the early days, it was a question of one trial at a time. Now we have five demonstration locomotives, which include two currently being extensively trialed with CSX Transportation, and we have made initial commercial deliveries to several customers.
“I take this opportunity to thank all the railroads and other operators who have made their facilities and staff available for trials which have provided RailPower with considerable experience and technological feedback. Not only have we been able to fully test our core technologies, but also to bring in improvements to the designs, a number of which have been based on customer feedback,” said Maier.
Maier pointed out RailPower’s demonstration program for its yard locomotives will continue with regional and short-line railroads as well as with industrial operators.
“In addition, when our pre-production Branch Line / Road Switcher locomotives are available later this year we will embark on a new program of demonstrations with key railroad customers to show-case this new product range.”
There are seven Class 1 railroads. They range in size from just over 3,000 to over 33,000 miles operated. They include Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern.
Norfolk Southern Corporation is one of the nation’s premier transportation companies. Its Norfolk Southern Railway subsidiary operates approximately 21,300 route miles in 22 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada, serving every major container port in the eastern United States and providing superior connections to western rail carriers. NS operates the most extensive intermodal network in the East and is North America’s largest rail carrier of automotive parts and finished vehicles.
RailPower Technologies Corp., (www.railpower.com), a leader in hybrid locomotive technology, is headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Its subsidiary company, RailPower Hybrid Technologies Corp., is located in Erie, Pennsylvania.