CPR introduces remote control locomotives

CALGARY, (Dec. 19, 2003) — Following up on a campaign to transform intermodal service, Canadian Pacific Railway says it has become the first rail company to operate a fleet of intermodal freight trains with mid-train remote-control locomotives.

Mimicking the control inputs of engineers in leading locomotives, the remote-control units enable CPR to run intermodal trains approaching three kilometers in length through the winter when they were previously shortened because of air-pressure loss in colder temperatures. Placing a locomotive in a remote-control position distributes tractive effort and produces performance benefits not unlike those of all-wheel drive in a highway passenger vehicle, the company says. It also boosts air pressure to ensure sufficient braking power along the entire length of the train in freezing temperatures.

CPR says it first pioneered the use of remote-control locomotive technology in its western-Canada coal trains in the 1970s, allowing for the safe operation of trains through the mountains at lengths previously thought impossible.

The railway also announced it is reconstituting its intermodal fleet, putting in service 5,500 new cars that can carry double-stacked containers. The new cars are capable of handling any size of container in any load configuration, doing away with older cars that are less flexible. The company says the net result will be an estimated 28 per cent increase in containers per train and 16-per-cent decrease in intermodal train starts, creating railway network capacity for more traffic.