World's first hybrid train to debut in Japan

A Japanese railway company will put the world's first environmentally friendly hybrid train into commercial service later this month, a move designed to help curb global warming, a company official said Thursday. The train will be powered by a diesel engine and electric battery that gets recharged by energy created from braking at curves and when entering stations, East Japan Railway spokesman Shinichi Harada said. Although gas-and-electric hybrid automobiles are already touted as a way to fight global warming, the JR East's hybrid train is the first of its kind in the world, Harada said.