Wabtec’s FLXdrive, described as “the world’s first 100% battery, heavy-haul locomotive,” fresh off testing on BNSF, was front and center at a Sept. 10 event at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) to mark the signing of two MOUs (memorandum of understanding). One, noting CMU as “a top university in engineering, artificial intelligence, battery technology, autonomy and robotics,” involves Wabtec and the university “formalizing their joint aim to create technologies that will decarbonize freight rail transport, improve freight safety, and generate greater rail network utilization.” The other is between Wabtec and Genesee & Wyoming “to pursue zero-emission battery and hydrogen freight strategies, as well as increase rail utilization across North America.”
CMU, Genesee & Wyoming and Wabtec also hope to create the Freight Rail Innovation Institute, described as “the first-of-its-kind effort to create zero-emission locomotives, develop technology that increases freight rail utilization and improve safety by 50%, and create 250,000 jobs by 2030.” G&W’s Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad will pilot technologies developed by the Freight Rail Innovation Institute, including a zero-emissions battery and hydrogen-powered train that is planned for revenue operation on 200 miles of track between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, N.Y. within the next three years.
Given that G&W owns Freightliner in the UK, I suspect that what they trial in the US could be replicated in the UK