The United States and Canada have created a Rail Decarbonization Task Force to develop a common vision to reduce emissions from the rail sector. The partners say they will:

• establish a joint research agenda to test the safe integration of emerging technologies, including hydrogen-powered and battery-electric locomotives;

• coordinate strategies to accelerate the rail sector’s safe transition from diesel-powered locomotives to zero-emission technologies to ensure a net-zero rail sector by no later than 2050; and

• collaborate on the development of a U.S.-Canada rail sector net-zero climate model by 2025.

The new Task Force builds on our efforts to address the impact of transportation on climate, as recognized in the Joint Statement by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada on the Nexus between Transportation and Climate Change in 2021, while also supporting our joint commitment to achieve a zero-emission vehicle future as outlined in the Roadmap for a Renewed Canada-US Partnership.

—Joint statement