The life expectancy of diesel-electric and electric locomotives is expected to be similar—about 25 years. Both types of motive power are subject to technological obsolescence.
Across the Amtrak system, the full cost to operate a train tends to land in the range of $0.30 to $0.70 per passenger-mile, though that number is dependent on a lot of things, perhaps the most important being the number of passengers onboard.
Anyway, the reason for using two locomotives is pretty simple. Twice the number of locomotives means twice the power. This extra power boost is used for especially heavy loads or for trains going up steep grades.
A new locomotive can cost anywhere from several hundred thousand dollars to several million dollars, depending on the type and size of the locomotive. For example, a diesel-electric locomotive can cost between $1.5 and $5 million, while a high-speed electric passenger train can cost $20 million or more.
Why are there so few electric trains in Canada? Passenger trains in Canada have to share the rails with freight trains, which tend to be taller and wider. Most electric trains use overhead catenary systems to feed them power and there's just no way to provide them with power with freight rails in the way.
Some estimate that you can save anywhere from 10-40 percent, depending on the conditions and specifics of your transport. This is because driver and fuel costs are lower for rail transit than road transit.
For a fuel cost of $0.84 per liter of diesel ($3.17 per gallon) (AAR (2012b)), this results in an average running fuel cost of $185 per locomotive-hour. If actual train and operation data are available, energy models or rail simulators may provide more accurate fuel use values for specific conditions.
The majority of modern electrification systems take AC energy from a power grid that is delivered to a locomotive, and within the locomotive, transformed and rectified to a lower DC voltage in preparation for use by traction motors.
Locomotive at one endAt low speeds, some push?pull trains are run entirely from the engine with the guard operating bell codes and brakes from the leading cab when the locomotive is pushing the train.