‘Eco’ Locomotives, ‘Sleeper’ Plug-In Heaters, and ‘Slugs’ Add Up to Lower Emissions for Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern considers it a corporate responsibility to mitigate the environmental impacts of rail operations. Because the consumption of locomotive diesel fuel makes up about 90 percent of the company’s carbon emissions, NS has adopted strategic initiatives to reduce fuel use, which lower business costs and environmental impacts.
Following are three things Norfolk Southern did in 2015 to reduce emissions at rail yards:
► Introduced the Eco locomotive, a locomotive rebuild program that recycles older locomotives and outfits them with new low-emission engines.
► Rolled out the “Sleeper,” an engine-heater system that eliminates unnecessary locomotive idling in winter months.
► Expanded work on a rebuild program to create locomotive “slugs” – units with traction motors but no engines. The slugs are paired with diesel-powered locomotives to add emissions-free pulling power and reduce fuel burn.
