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In a joint statement released on March 28, FS Italiane, Snam and Hitachi Rail announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at converting part of the current FS Italiane train fleet from diesel to methane ( liquid and compressed), as part of the promotion of sustainable mobility in public transport in Italy.
With this initiative, which at the moment will be dedicated only to "tourist railways", Italy sets out in the sector of the conversion of diesel locomotives in the rail sections that can’t be electrified. LNG experience in rail transport is also underway in Spain, United States and Russian Federation.
In the USA, since November 2017, Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway regularly uses LNG in the 351-mile tourist route from Jacksonville to Miami, serving Port Miami, Port Everglades and Port of Palm Beach. For the first time in Italy, the prospects of rail transport in the Euro-Mediterranean area will be discussed in the upcoming 5th International Conference on Small Scale LNG on 15 and 16 May in Naples.
The agreement was signed by the General Manager of Fondazione FS Italiane Luigi Cantamessa, by the Managing Director of Snam Marco Alverà and by the CEO of Hitachi Rail Italy Maurizio Manfellotto, and regards the launch of a pilot project for the transformation of one or two FS Italiane locomotive to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) or compressed natural gas (CNG). After a feasibility study, companies will identify a larger number of trains on which to extend the experiment.
As with all land and sea transport using LNG, trains will also substantially eliminate particulate emissions and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 20%. The replacement of 100 trains would also lead to savings of about 2.5 million euros per year on the cost of fuel.
Source: Comunicato Stampa congiunto FS Italiane | Snam | Hitachi
