(Union Pacific issued the following news release on September 30.)
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific Railroad has ordered 315 diesel-electric locomotives designed to significantly decrease air emissions.
This decision follows a testing program that Union Pacific began over a year ago.
The new low-emission locomotives will satisfy U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “railroad Tier 2” emission regulations that become effective January 1, 2005.
Currently, about 35 percent of Union Pacific’s 7,861-unit locomotive fleet is certified under existing EPA Tier 0 and Tier 1 regulations which govern air emissions. That gives Union Pacific the most environmentally friendly locomotive fleet in the nation.
The new 1ocomotives produce approximately the same horsepower as existing locomotives, but will reduce air emissions as much as 40 percent.
Delivery is scheduled in the first half of 2005.
Union Pacific Corporation owns one of America’s leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, is the largest railroad in North America, covering 23 states across the western two-thirds of the United States. A strong focus on quality and a strategically advantageous route structure enable the company to serve customers in critical and fast growing markets. It is a leading carrier of low-sulfur coal used in electrical power generation and has broad coverage of the large chemical-producing areas along the Gulf Coast. With competitive long-haul routes between all major West Coast ports and eastern gateways, and as the only railroad to serve all six major gateways to Mexico, Union Pacific has the premier rail franchise in North America.