The Indian Railways is now looking to phase in biodiesel up to 5% of the total fuel consumption in its vast fleet of over 4000 diesel locomotives, and to achieve this various biofuels are being tested for their performance and emissions characteristics. In this study, a dual biodiesel blend, mixture of two different kinds of biodiesel namely palm (Elaeis guineensis) and jatropha (Jatropha curcas) in diesel was considered for evaluation in a single cylinder DI diesel engine with varying loads after going through physical properties analysis. The results for lower blend of biodiesel D90PB5JB5 (i.e. 90% diesel & 10% biodiesel) with diesel showed 4.65% average increase in brake power than diesel. There was slight reduction seen in BSFC for lower blends. Higher biodiesel blend D20JB40PB40 (i.e. 20% diesel & 80% biodiesel) have showed up to 15% average increase in brake thermal efficiency. A notable decrease in exhaust gas temperature for most of biodiesel blends was observed. There were 7.1%, 17.7% and 14.5% average reductions in CO emissions with samples D90JB5PB5, D80JB10PB10 and D70JB15PB15 (biodiesel blends containing 10%, 20% & 30% biodiesel) respectively, when compared to diesel. Lower blends of biodiesel samples D90JB5PB5 and D80JB10PB10 showed 5.3% and 9.2% average increase in NOx emissions respectively, than diesel. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.