Sierra Northern Railway honored for testing hydrogen-fueled switcher

Sierra Northern Railway last week was recognized by the city of West Sacramento, California, for developing the first four-axle, hydrogen-fueled zero-emission switching locomotive.

The railroad received the Civic Leadership Award for Progress, which recognizes those who continue to make West Sacramento a "great place to live, work and play," according to a press release.

Sierra Northern on April 8 announced that it had successfully completed testing in West Sacramento of the first four-axle zero-emission hydrogen-fueled switching locomotive. That successful test puts hydrogen-fueled locomotives within realistic commercial reach for the short-line industry in California and around the world, Sierra Northern officials said.

"It's nice to know we have strong local backing as we push to dramatically expand the use of this environmentally beneficial technology that we believe will fundamentally change our industry for the better," said Sierra Northern CEO Ken Beard.

Sierra Northern's hydrogen-fueled switching locomotive project was funded through a $4 million grant from the California Energy Commission and administered through GTI Energy. Other funding partners include the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, SoCalGas and the Low-Carbon Resources Initiative.

Other project partners include Velocity Strategies, Railpower Tech, WHA International Inc., OptiFuel Systems, Ballard Power Systems, UC Riverside and Valley Vision. Sierra Northern has started the process to assemble and test three additional hydrogen-fueled switching locomotives in West Sacramento with funding from the California State Transportation Agency.