Union Pacific Deploys Wabtec FLXdrive Battery Locomotives for Southern California Field Tests

Union Pacific has started operational testing of Wabtec's FLXdrive battery-electric locomotives in Southern California. The railroad received the first two of a four-unit order and expects the other two to arrive in October. The four-unit set will operate across the Greater Los Angeles area.

Union Pacific will use the FLXdrive locomotives for switching and local-customer service. Running the units in a busy railyard and on day-to-day assignments is intended to provide data on performance, reliability, and operational capabilities under real operating conditions rather than in controlled test environments.

• Onboard energy: approximately 2.7 megawatt-hours (MWh) per locomotive.
• Battery architecture: around 7,000 individual battery cells per unit.
• Emissions: no tailpipe emissions while operating.

The deployment is part of Union Pacific's programme to evaluate emerging propulsion technologies within active railroad operations. Company leadership framed the work as exploratory: "Testing technologies like battery-electric locomotives help us to better understand what's possible by putting these emerging technologies to work in actual railroad operations," said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena.

Wabtec described the field deployment as a step toward building "real-world insights needed to refine and scale battery-electric technology." Rafael Santana, Wabtec's chairman and CEO, said that running FLXdrive units in daily operations will help refine the technology and deliver value for customers.

Railyard switching and local service involve frequent starts and stops, variable loads, and close interaction with other yard movements. Testing battery locomotives in that environment will stress systems for energy management, charge/discharge cycles, thermal control, and duty-cycle matching. The data Union Pacific collects should inform operational rules, charging strategies, maintenance needs, and comparisons with diesel or hybrid alternatives.

This deployment will provide practical information on:

• and duty cycles in a freight yard.
• Reliability and maintenance patterns under frequent cycling and stop-start duty.
• Integration with existing yard operations and potential infrastructure needs for charging or battery servicing.

• Arrival and commissioning of the remaining two FLXdrive units in October.
• Data or operational findings released by Union Pacific on performance, reliability, and any required changes to yard procedures.
• Any indications of required charging infrastructure or revised maintenance schedules based on collected data.