Why Do Trains Idle All Night?

Engines may be left idling to maintain important safety related functions such as maintaining engine temperature, air pressure for the brake system, the integrity of the starting systems, the electrical system and providing heating or cooling to a train's crew and/or passengers.

How long can a train idle?

How Long Can A Locomotive Idle? The locomotives in the active fleet of a railway company must not idle for more than 30 minutes, as defined in subsection (2).

How much fuel does a locomotive burn at idle?

Using an average of 3.5 gallons of fuel burned per hour idling per locomotive – some easy math shows an annual consumption of over 20 million gallons of excess idle, which is over 4% of the total annual fuel consumption for that particular Class I railroad – do we have your attention yet?