The UK division of rail freight company DB Schenker Rail (DBSR) has introduced auto-engine stop-start technology in its ninety Class 66 locomotives.
The ZTR-built technology will help DBSR to save more than 4,500tn in carbon emissions a year.
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DBSR UK has been trialling the technology on its locomotives since February and confirms the claims of reduced emissions and fuel consumption.
DBSR UK head of maintenance and infrastructure Andrew Byrne said: "The auto-engine stop-start technology provides huge opportunities to improve the environment impact of rail freight.
"Although rail freight is a more environmentally friendly mode of transport solution than road, we continuously seek to find ways in which the impact of rail freight can be reduced further."
With this technology, which stops the engine from running when idling, the time for running was minimised by approximately one third with CO² emissions being reduced by more than 50t.
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By GlobalDataThis will also offer enhanced reliability for customers and will reduce the number of flat batteries, as well as the risk of trains freezing in cold weather.
The company will start the rollout this year and locomotives will be equipped with the technology by the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, DB Schenker Rail UK has been awarded the Freight & Logistics Achievement of the Year Award at the National Rail Awards for the delivery of logistics for Novelis.
