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February 24, 2025|Commuter/Regional

Metro-North to Operate Electric-Battery Locomotives for Penn Station Access

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
Metro-North's new battery-electric locomotives are expected to be similar in appearance to the SC42-DMs. (Metro-North photo)
MTA Metro-North Railroad on Feb. 24 announced details of a major expansion of the agency’s railcar fleet, unveiling plans to add new trains that will provide New Haven Line Service to Penn Station and four additional stations in the Bronx.

In a first for North America, the passenger trains will be powered by electric-battery locomotives “offering clean, green zero-emission service,” according to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The locomotives will generally draw electrical power from catenary, and switch to battery mode for tracks in and around Penn Station where electrical traction power has different characteristics. The Siemens Mobility Charger locomotives were based on the leading locomotive platform in Europe, the Vectron, and the Siemens battery and electric Charger locomotive is the next generation locomotive for North America, MTA noted.

If approved by the MTA Board—as anticipated on Wednesday—13 electric-battery locomotives will be purchased by exercising an option on an existing contract with Siemens Mobility North America, which is already building 33 dual-mode locomotives for Metro-North that operate under diesel or third rail power.

The new locomotives, MTA says, are expected to be similar in appearance to those 4,200-horsepower diesel/electric locomotives, known by the model number SC42-DM, which Metro-North unveiled in November 2024. The locomotives will pull or push coach cars, depending on the direction of travel, a configuration similar to Metro-North’s diesel trains.

“Transit is the antidote to climate change, and these locomotives—the first ever in North America—demonstrate, again, the MTA’s commitment to using innovation to green the region,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber.

“In a few years, Metro-North’s Penn Access service will revolutionize how New Haven Line customers travel around the region, creating a link between communities in the Bronx and employment opportunities in West Midtown and along the New Haven Line in Westchester County and Connecticut,” said Metro-North President Catherine Rinaldi. “What better way to inaugurate this new service than with cutting edge battery-electric locomotives that will set a new standard for environmental friendliness and overall reliability?”