The Anonymous Widower

BHP Welcomes Australia’s First Purpose-Built Battery-Electric Locomotives To The Pilbara

The title of this post, is the same as that of this news story from BHP.

 

This is the sub-heading.

The first brand-new, purpose-built battery-electric locomotives (BELs) in Australia have arrived in Port Hedland.

These first three paragraphs add more detail.

The two BELs, delivered in partnership with Wabtec, are fully battery-powered heavy-haul units that will be trialled on BHP’s iron ore rail routes between its Pilbara mines and Port of Port Hedland operations.

Purpose-built to withstand the region’s extreme heat and demanding conditions, the locomotives have been designed to deliver high performance while aiming to reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1 and 2).

Each locomotive features a 7 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery system and regenerative braking technology, which captures energy during downhill braking and feeds it back into the battery to improve efficiency and reduce waste.

This is a YouTube video of the locomotive under test in the snow. Do they get snow in Western Australia?

For comparison this is a YouTube video of the UK’s largest locomotive, which is a Class 99 locomotive.

 

November 15, 2025 - Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , ,

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