WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Transportation Authority will fund an initiative by Sierra Northern Railway to convert three additional diesel switchers to hydrogen power, the railroad has announced.
The railroad will receive funding from the transportation authority’s Port and Freight Infrastructure Project through a public-private partnership with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. The total project cost will be $19.5 million, and will expand on the railroad’s ongoing efforts to develop its first hydrogen-powered switching unit.
“SERA is extraordinarily proud to be awarded the funds by the California State Transportation Authority as we continue to lead the industry converting our fleet of switching locomotives to hydrogen-powered, zero-emission locomotives,” Sierra Northern President Kennan H. Beard said in a press release. “We believe that through creative public-private partnerships like we have with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, we can help the State of California achieve its goals of converting all switching locomotives to a zero emission solution.”
Testing will be conducted on a planned test track at the railroad’s West Sacramento railyard. Testing is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2027, and is intended to lead to Sacramento Northern eventually converting its entire fleet of switchers to hydrogen power. The ultimate goal is for all of the more than 260 switchers in the state to be converted to Sierra’s hydrogen system.
The latest funding builds on the 2021 grant to convert a Tier 0 diesel locomotive and convert it to hydrogen power [see “California Energy Commission awards $4 million for development …,” Trains News Wire, March 18, 2021]. The conversion projects involve integration of an advanced hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen storage systems, batteries, and system control technologies.
— Updated July 7 at 7:15 a.m. to correct railroad name.
