Rail decarbonisation was in the news today as Great Western Railway (GWR) set a new record for battery powered rail. Well done to all involved! It's great to see the technology developed by the now sadly defunct #Vivarail at Long Marston in Warwickshire being further developed and explored by GWR. The record run overnight on August 19-20 used a Class 230 battery multiple-unit originally converted from London Underground metro cars by Vivarail. GWR bought Vivarail’s battery train assets when the company went into administration, and over the past year the operator has been using the Class 230 to trial fast-charge technology using a line-side battery bank and short charging rails installed on the Greenford branch line in west London, following earlier trials out of Long Marston to Honeybourne last year. There's a lot potential in in the repowering of ICE bus and trains. #Coventry #Warwickshire #BeHere #EV #Battery #Rail #Bus #CV https://lnkd.in/eq7e-arw
Robert Scotland
1mo
Very impressive. Just shows how battery power can bridge the gap between decarbonisation and full electrification.
Business Development Manager and Writer
1moI am probably missing something, but how is carrying and charging batteries greenwr than directly powering infinite range electric trains as currently, given both rely on power from the grid? I get electrifying non electrified lines, but is that cheaper than proper infrastructure over say 25 years?