An AI Startup Is Helping North American Diesel Trains Clean Up Their Act
A “Google Maps” for train operators, powered by AI, is being pilot tested with the promise to save diesel fuel and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Diesel locomotives on the final assembly line in Fort Worth, Texas.
Photographer: Luke Sharrett/BloombergTransportation is responsible for one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. While companies have touted electric vehicles and sustainable aviation fuel as ways to cut emissions from air and road travel, reducing the climate impact of rail transport has received relatively little attention.
A Canadian startup wants to lessen that impact. Montreal-based RailVision Analytics has developed artificial intelligence-enabled software to help locomotive engineers make small adjustments in train driving that could lead to big savings in diesel fuel. That could help freight and passenger trains cut into the roughly 100 million tons of planet-warming gases released into the atmosphere every year.