美国是世界铁路运输最发达的国家之一。美国铁路以内燃牵引为主,平均每年大约要消耗四十亿加仑柴油,折合燃料费三十六亿美元左右。近年来,能源危机席卷美国,石油价格大幅度上涨,铁路牵引动力所需要的柴油严重短缺,迫使美国当局不得不寻求其他形式的能源。最近,美国西弗吉尼亚大学能源研究中心在其研究报告中指出,对于煤炭资源极其丰富的美国来讲,如果能将其铁路牵引动 The United States is one of the most developed countries in the world in railway transportation. The U.S. railways mainly focus on internal combustion, which consumes an average of about 4 billion gallons of diesel fuel annually, equivalent to about 3.6 billion U.S. dollars in fuel costs. In recent years, the energy crisis swept through the United States, oil prices have risen sharply, and the serious shortage of diesel fuel required by rail traction has forced the U.S. authorities to seek alternative forms of energy. Recently, the University of Western Energy Center for Energy Studies in the United States pointed out in its research report that for the United States, where coal resources are extremely abundant, if its railways can be towed