Wabtec’s (NYSE: WAB) battery-electric locomotive reduces a train’s fuel consumption by an average 11%, the Pittsburgh-headquartered rail equipment manufacturer and technology provider said Monday.

The FLXdrive, which Wabtec bills as the world’s first 100% battery-powered, heavy-haul freight locomotive, also reduced the train’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the company. Wabtec was unveiling the results of a three-month study on the locomotive…

Wabtec conducted the pilot with BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B) in California, with $22.6 million in grant money awarded from the California Air Resources Board to Wabtec, BNSF and the San Joaquin Pollution Control District.

The pilot involved putting the FLXdrive into revenue service, an advanced testing stage, across 13,320 miles in hilly San Joaquin Valley. Wabtec says the region is classified as a nonattainment area, where air quality does not meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
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