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First battery-electric freight train: The Wabtec Corporation sets world record

Sep 17, 2021

First battery-electric freight train: Wabtec Corporation sets world record

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States--Freight train manufacturer Wabtec (NYSE: WAB), in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, showed off the new FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive; the 430,000-lb (195,044-kg) train runs on 18,000 lithium-ion battery cells allowing it to produce up to 4,400 hp, and sets the world record for the First battery-electric freight train, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

The train has an energy capacity of 2.4-megawatt-hours and it can recharge via regenerative braking. The new train was developed as part of a collaboration between Wabtec and Carnegie Mellon University.

The train's battery-powered electric power train can be paired with a traditional diesel engine to reduce fuel consumption by over 11 percent, also leading to an 11 percent reduction in carbon emissions – the equivalent of removing over 6,200 gallons of diesel fuel and offsetting almost 70 tons of carbon emissions, Wabtec explains.

The FLXdrive uses an AI-enabled cruise control system called the Trip Optimizer system to manage the flow of energy in order to optimize energy efficiency.

The new train completed a successful trial run in California earlier this year, traveling 13,000 miles (20,920 km) between Barstow and Stockton over the course of three months.

The same day Wabtec unveiled the FLXdrive, Australian mining company Roy Hill announced in a statement that it has purchased the first of Wabtec's commercially available FLXdrive trains. The company will receive the second-generation version of the FLXdrive locomotive when it is completed and delivered in 2023. Roy Hill operates a 214-mile (344-km) iron ore mining railroad in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

“Controlling emissions is critical in the fight against climate change,” said Rogerio Mendonca, President of Freight Equipment for Wabtec.

“The FLXdrive battery-electric locomotive is a bold step toward a low-to-zero-emission locomotive future. We continue working on solutions that cut the overall carbon footprint of the industries we serve through the development of low-emitting locomotives like the FLXdrive, and the use of alternative fuels such as bio-diesel, renewable diesel and hydrogen.”