Egypt May be Getting the World's First Battery-Powered Trains

American railways company Wabtec has announced that they’re planning to pitch a deal to the Egyptian National Railways to supply Egypt with the world’s first ever electric battery powered freight train.

Wabtec unveiled the freight train last year, and already have an existing relationship with Egypt due to an ongoing locomotive and services deal that was struck last year, which includes 100 ES30ACi Evolution Series Locomotives, as well as a multi-year service agreement to maintain the fleet.

The battery-powered train would help slash carbon emissions from rail transport in order to address the climate crisis. Dubbed the FLXdrive, the battery-electric locomotive was found to have cut fuel consumption by 11% at least. If the technology is used worldwide, Wabtec estimates planet-heating emissions could be cut by 300 metric tons a year, with nearly half of those saved emissions originating in the United States.