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FreightWaves chats with scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to discuss a four-year project between Oak Ridge, Argonne National Laboratory and rail technology provider Wabtec (NYSE: WAB) aimed at developing a hybrid locomotive that can run on both diesel and hydrogen.

Rail technology provider Wabtec (NYSE: WAB) and scientists with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Argonne National Laboratory are working together to develop a hybrid locomotive engine that can run on both hydrogen and diesel.

Rafael Santana, President and CEO of Wabtec Corporation talks with the Times of India about the company's growth in the region. "We've grown our footprint here by more than tenfold just over the past five years in terms of employees. But it's not just employees, we have over a dozen sites that are unique and leading in a lot of ways. This is the only market outside the US that has the capability to not just manufacture, but also really design the full breadth of our products."

Wabtec is expanding its transit manufacturing facility in Hosur, India. The 80,000-sq-ft expansion of the plant is intended to meet growing demand for transit rail products and solutions in India.

Wabtec Corporation’s adaptive wheel-slide protection (WSP) technology to help improve rail transit braking performance has gained certification, the company reported Dec. 6.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — CSX Transportation is awaiting regulatory approval to become the first railroad to use Trip Optimizer’s Zero-to-Zero function, which allows the advanced cruise control system to automatically start and stop freight trains.

Wabtec Corporation on Nov. 17 reported the addition of Brazil-based Super Metal to its maintenance-of-way (m/w) business. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The move complements Wabtec’s 2021 acquisition of Nordco—a supplier of new, rebuilt and used maintenance-of-way equipment, with a product and service portfolio that includes mobile railcar movers and ultrasonic rail flaw detection technologies—and its existing Contagem, Brazil plant, which in August celebrated 60 years of locomotive production.

Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) will work with Wabtec, a leading manufacturer of freight locomotives, to develop the hardware and control strategies for a single-cylinder, dual-fuel engine to demonstrate the viability of using alternative fuels for locomotives.

The first two of CN’s 50-unit order of AC44C6M remanufactured locomotives from Wabtec have arrived in Canada. Rebuilt at Wabtec’s Fort Worth, Tex., plant from GE C44-9Ws built in the late 1990s, these units have been upgraded to 4,500 hp (from 4,400), with up to 25%, increased fuel efficiency, 40% increased reliability and reduction in maintenance and repairs with modernized control systems.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Wabtec has celebrated the 10th anniversary of its manufacturing operations in Fort Worth, having opened a 1-million-square-foot locomotive plant and 250,000-square-foot mining-equipment facility in October 2012.

Canadian National AC44C6M No. 3300, the first in an order of 50 of the remanufactured diesels and the guest of honor in ceremonies at Wabtec’s Fort Worth, Texas, plant on Oct. 13, 2022.

In this episode of The Cool Parts Show, laser powder bed fusion simplifies the manufacturing of air brake panels for light rail systems made by Wabtec.

In August, Ajith Kumar surpassed legendary American inventor George Westinghouse in the number of patents held. 362 vs Westinghouse’s 361. Westinghouse, who died in 1914, invented the air brake system that made railroads safer and transformed the US rail industry. His Westinghouse Air Brake Company is the origin of today’s locomotive giant Wabtec, where Kumar is now vice president of technology-innovation. Earlier this month, the company celebrated Kumar’s achievement at its Pittsburgh headquarters

Wabtec has presented a range of new technology at the InnoTrans trade fair intended to enable rail operators to reduce fuel bills while offering shippers more efficient and predictable service. In a series of exclusive interviews with Trains News Wire, Wabtec executives outlined the likely transition from diesel to alternative fuel types for North American and global rail operators over the next two decades.

Wabtec and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ, Kazakhstan National Railway) have signed a $600 million memorandum of understanding (MOU) for 150 FLXdrive™ battery-electric switchers and modernization work to transform the KTZ main line diesel-electric fleet into NextFuel™ liquified natural gas-powered (LNG) locomotives.