LOS ANGELES — Metrolink will receive funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to purchase two zero-emission rail vehicles, and to replace a dozen older locomotives with Tier 4-complient lower-emission locomotives, the commuter rail agency has announced.
South Coast AQMD has approved up to $59.3 million for the zero-emission vehicles — likely to be multiple-unit trainsets for use on its Antelope Valley Line — through its Carl Moyer Program, which provides grants for equipment that go beyond regulatory requirements to reduce emissions. The $87.4 for the locomotives comes from the AQMD’s contingency grant award list.
Metrolink was the first U.S. passenger operator to operate Tier 4 locomotives, introducing the first of what is now a fleet of 40 EMD F125 locomotives in 2017. The new locomotives will replace a dozen Tier 2 units still in service.
“We continue to explore emerging technologies that will help us reduce our environmental footprint because it’s the right thing to do,” Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said in a press release. “In 2012, we pushed for Tier 4 locomotives because we knew the impact that reducing our emissions would have on the communities we serve. Ten years later, we became the first passenger rail system in the nation to power our entire locomotive fleet with renewable fuel. We’re honored to once again have the support of South Coast AQMD as we pursue lower- and zero-emission alternatives.”
Metrolink will initiate a process to solicit manufacture proposals for the zero-emission vehicles, a pilot program to determine a broader transition to zero-emission technology. That program follows a presentation to Metrolink’s board which considered three options for the pilot — rebuilding a retired Tier 0 locomotive to run on battery or a hydrogen fuel cell-battery hybrid system; a new-build battery or hydrogen fuel-cell locomotive; or a battery or fuel-cell multiple-unit trainset. The 86-page document concluded that exploring in-depth planning for the multiple-unit option on Metrolink’s Antelope Valley Line, along with exploring a partnership with Caltrans on its Zero Emissions Research and Development Program, “best services the interests of Metrolink.” Caltrans has 10 hydrogen-powered trainsets on order for use in the San Joaquin Valley [see “
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