The Norfolk Southern Railway recently debuted a green transportation option that’s among the first of its kind. It’s currently only a prototype, but is just the beginning of things to come; with plans by 2011 to unveil a long-range locomotive that will produce zero-emissions.
The battery powered plug-in locomotive has been in the works for the past couple of years, and has finally come to fruition in the Pennsylvania Rail Yard. While it’s not taking passengers on board today, it is hard at work transporting trains around the yard between the charging requirements of its 1080 rechargeable 12-volt lead acid batteries which are capable of storing about a day’s worth of power between charges.
The development of this prototype hybrid locomotive cost $4 Million to develop and was funded in part by US Rep. Bull Shuster in a hopes of reducing pollution output from diesel which is responsible for 40 tonnes of pollution in the United States every year. Initially, new trains that will be designed to carry passengers will be hybrid models which will combine diesel and rechargeable battery power, but now that this prototype has finally come to fruition in Pennsylvania, there’s no doubting that this is just the beginning of things to come.
Via: Altoona Mirror
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