Sierra Northern Railway (SERA) announced at the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) conference in Denver, Colorado, that it successfully completed testing of the first four-axle H₂-fueled, zero-emission switching locomotive on March 27, 2025, in West Sacramento, California.

Kennan H. Beard III, President of Sierra Northern Railway stated, "This accomplishment marks another major milestone in Sierra's mission to bring H₂ Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotives within commercial reach for the short line industry.  Both in California and around the world."

The demonstration of this H₂ Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive was funded through a $4,000,000 grant to fund the design, integration, and demonstration of a H₂ fuel cell switching locomotive from the California Energy Commission (CEC) and administered through GTI Energy.

"Sierra's successful test proves that short lines can retire pre-tier 0 to tier 4 diesel locomotives and replace them with a H₂ Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotives using our advanced H₂ powered units," said Beard.

Demonstration and validation of Sierra Northern Railways H₂ Powered Zero Emission Switcher Locomotive establishes a platform for widespread commercialization in the immediate future. Short line and switching locomotives account for a significant share of the total locomotive energy use within the State of California as they carry a significant portion of freight in California and operate on the first and last miles of the national freight network. This makes short-line operations an excellent testbed for the demonstration of zero-emission technologies and a key to decarbonizing transportation emissions.

Video of this historic event can be found on Sierra Northern Railway (SERA) website: http://sierranorthern.com

This demonstration will start to facilitate the improvement of local air quality, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, noise, and odor for the communities that have a short line in their community. Most switcher locomotives in California use an average of approximately 50,000 gallons per year per switcher, potentially leading to a reduction of more than 12 million gallons of diesel per year. This is approximately equivalent to the same amount of fuel used each year by 20,000 light-duty vehicles.

"Sierra Northern Railway is proud that we will continue to lead the industry with low emission switching solutions as we continue to demonstrate that Sierra has achieved what the industry needs to convert to zero emission by integrating advanced H₂ fuel cells, H₂ storage, advanced battery and systems control technologies to provide an alternative to less environmentally friendly diesel-powered locomotives," stated Beard.

In addition to the funds received by the California Energy Commission, Sierra's funding partners include: The Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality District, SoCalGas and the Low Carbon Resource Initiative. Project Partners include: GTI Energy, Velocity Strategies, Railpower Tech, WHA International, Inc., OptiFuel Systems, Ballard Power Systems, UC Riverside and Valley Vision.