According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), an increase in domestic natural gas production and lower natural gas prices compared with crude oil prices could result in significant cost saving by using LNG as a fuel source. For this reason,they have projected that LNG will play an increasing role in powering freight locomotives in years to come.
The seven US freight railways are considering using LNG in locomotives because of the potential for significant fuel cost saving and the resulting reductions in operating costs.
As it stands, these railways consumed more than 3.6 billion gal. of diesel fuel in 2012, 7% of all diesel fuel consumed in the US. This was equivalent to a fuel cost of more than US$ 11 billion and accounted for 23% of total operating expenses.