GE software speeds freight trains, cuts fuel consumption

Norfolk Southern and GE Transportation are talking up a new software application that they believe improves freight railroad capacity and reliability. This could increase train speed and, in turn, save fuel, according to the two companies.

The technology, GE RailEdge Movement Planner, works by analyzing traffic flow information and planned schedules and then optimizing the routes that train should take to move faster and more efficiently. The two have been testing the application with trains in a 200-mile section of track in Georgia, where it helped increase average freight train speeds by 10 percent to 20 percent. Norfolk Southern plans to expand the use of the software across its entire 22-state network by the end of 2012.

In a statement, GEO Transportation President and CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said:

"RailEdge optimizes the railroad resources that are already in place -- something that only technology can truly help us achieve -- by enabling railroas to move more freight faster on their existing networks. This technology increases the capacity of railways worldwide, without laying a single new track. A two-to-four miles-per-hour increase might not sound like a lot, but in freight rail it is a big leap forward."

This video explains how the technology works: