Fortescue announces ‘infinity train’ powered by gravity

The infinity train is still in the works but, once finished, it’ll be incorporated into Fortescue’s green fleet of vehicles. The company is currently already developing fuel cell mining trucks and ammonia-fuelled trains.

In a statement, Fortescue’s CEO Elizabeth Gaines said that ‘the regeneration of electricity on the downhill loaded sections will remove the need for the installation of renewable energy generation and recharging infrastructure’.

She also hopes it will be a ‘capital efficient solution for eliminating diesel and emissions from our rail operations’.

Company founder and chairman, Andrew Forrest, added that the infinity train will ‘accelerate Fortescue’s race to reach net zero, lower our operating costs, create maintenance efficiencies, and productivity operations’.

We don’t currently know what stage of development the infinity train is at, but it seems both companies have strong ambitions to have it completed as soon as possible. Trains that no longer pump out carbon emissions would certainly be a positive step forward, and removing charging necessities could save considerable amounts of time during journeys.

Although this is all good news, however, we’ve reason to be wary. It’s probably not a morally sound idea to champion a mining company as sustainable and progressive until its stats back up its claims.

Greenwashing is more prevalent than ever and we should be wary of how much oil consumption and environmental destruction Fortescue is still guilty of. It’ll also be a while before we see commuter trains using gravity to charge batteries instead of traditional methods.

A big replacement of current train carriages and models will be a sizeable effort, and will require co-operation from a whole host of private companies that may not be sold on the idea.

We’ll have to wait for the first infinity train to release. Still, it’s reason enough to be optimistic. In this war stricken, climate apocalypse, it’s all you can hope for, right?