With no discussion the members of the Los Angeles City Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee on Tuesday, Oct. 15, advanced an agreement for a zero-emissions switcher locomotive demonstration project at the Port of Los Angeles.
The item, a first amendment to an agreement with Union Pacific Railroad Company to design and manufacture the locomotive, stems from a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that went before the Board of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners in 2021 and 2022 when it was originally approved. The commission approved an amendment on July 30, 2024, which is the item now heading to the Los Angeles City Council.
The harbor department is administering the grant for UP to purchase and demonstrate a new zero-emissions switch locomotive that includes battery capacity, according to the July 2024 board report.
“A switcher locomotive makes short distance movements of rail cars, such as assembling and disassembling trains at various locations in and around the Port of Los Angeles complex, sorting cars of inbound cargo trains for subsequent delivery to terminals, and short-distance hauling of rail cargo within the port,” the report stated.
The battery-electric switcher locomotive, the report stated, is expected to have a run time of up to 24 hours, depending on charging and utilization rates.
The grant award would not provide funding for infrastructure or the cost of charging infrastructure, however, but UP has said it will install charging infrastructure at its primary yard for the switcher locomotive.
When placed into service, according to the port’s board report, the ZE switch locomotive — utilizing battery electric technology — will operate at rail yards in the South Coast Air Basin, including a demonstration at UP’s Intermodal Container Transfer Facility.
The port submitted an application to the EPA requesting $2 million to help fund the Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive Project under the EPA Diesel Emissions…
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