Saturday, October 5, 2024
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Siemens battery-trains ‘could save British railways £3.5bn’

Siemens Mobility has calculated that its new battery bi-mode trains could save Britain’s railways £3.5 billion and 12 million tonnes of CO2 over 35 years.  

It claimed that its trains, which would be assembled at Siemens Mobility’s Train Manufacturing Facility in Yorkshire, would be powered by overhead wires on already electrified routes, then switch to battery power where there are no wires. 

According to Siemens, it would mean only small sections of the routes or particular stations have to be electrified with overhead line equipment (OLE), making it much quicker and less disruptive to replace diesel trains compared to full electrification.  

The OLE can also be installed quickly using Siemens Mobility’s Rail Charging Converter (RCC), which makes it possible to plug directly into the domestic grid – cutting delivery times from seven years to just 18 months.

Siemens Mobility has conducted extensive modelling using advanced train performance simulation software to compare using battery bi-mode trains to running diesel or part-diesel powered trains.

It shows that Siemens Mobility’s battery bi-mode trains would only require 20 – 30% of a line to be electrified. These trains, utilising Lithium Titanate Oxide battery chemistry, can charge their batteries to full capacity in 20 minutes whilst moving along the electrified sections or charging whilst stopped at stations.

Siemens Mobility has reviewed routes across the country and identified strategic points along these routes where discontinuous electrification OLE could be installed, powered by Siemens Mobility’s RCCs, enabling the batteries to be charged.  

Sambit Banerjee, Joint CEO for Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland said:

“Britain should never have to buy a diesel passenger train again. Our battery trains, which we’d assemble in our new Goole factory in Yorkshire, can replace Britain’s aging diesel trains without us having to electrify hundreds of miles more track in the next few years.

“So, on routes from Perth to Penzance, passengers could be travelling on clean, green battery-electric trains by the early 2030s. And the best thing is that this would save the country £3.5bn over 35 years.”

Image from Siemens

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