Battery traction news
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NewsRock Rail to finance second-largest BEMU fleet in Germany
GERMANY: Westfalen-Lippe transport authority NWL has ordered 61 Siemens Mobility Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units for use on Netz Nördliches Westfalen regional passenger services from December 2029.
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NewsŠkoda to supply BEMUs to Latvia
LATVIA: National transport authority Autotransporta Direkcija has awarded Škoda Group a €89·4m contract to supply nine battery-electric multiple-units.
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Rail Business UK‘Five firsts’ celebrated at Tuxford as UK rail sector seeks role in hydrogen economy
UK: Network Rail and industry partners held an event at Tuxford in Nottinghamshire on December 3 marking the first use of rail to transport hydrogen on the main line network.
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NewsElectro-diesel Stadler Flirt trains selected to renew Dublin – Belfast Enterprise fleet
EUROPE: Ireland’s national railway Iarnród Éireann and North Ireland’s Translink have jointly selected Stadler Flirt trainsets to replace locomotive-hauled rolling stock on the cross-border Dublin – Belfast Enterprise service.
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NewsBattery train agreement signed as a ‘fast and realistic’ path to zero-emissions
SLOVAKIA: National train operator ZSSK has awarded a consortium of Škoda Group and ŽOS Trnava a €332m framework contract for the supply of up to 36 two-car battery-electric multiple-units.
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NewsEcoTrain launched to target very light rail opportunities in France and Belgium
FRANCE: Dynamic testing of a lightweight trainset for secondary lines is underway follwing the unveiling of the EcoTrain.
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Rail Business UKScottish government scales back electrification ambition to focus on fleet renewal
UK: The Scottish government has issued a revised rail decarbonisation plan that shifts the focus away from electrification to emphasise a reduction of rolling stock emissions.
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NewsDiesel locomotive battery tender to be tested in Western Australia
AUSTRALIA: Freight operator Aurizon is to trial the use of a Battery Electric Tender intended to reduce emissions from heavy haul rail operations.
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Rail Business UKInterview: ‘We are waking Merseyrail up’
As its 25-year agreement to run electric suburban services around Liverpool nears its end, Merseyrail has become a model for how local control of rail operations can bring tangible benefits to the community, as its Managing Director Neil Grabham explains to Nick Kingsley.
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NewsŠkoda Group and Microvast to produce battery systems for public transport
CZECH REPUBLIC: Škoda Group has entered a strategic partnership with US electric vehicle battery technology company Microvast to develop and manufacture battery systems for public transport applications.
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NewsBHP battery locos delivered to the Pilbara
AUSTRALIA: Mining company BHP has taken delivery of its first purpose-built battery-electric heavy haul locomotives for trials between its Pilbara iron ore mines and Port Hedland.
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NewsNexrail orders electric-battery hybrid freight locomotives for emission-free operation from terminal to terminal
Completely zero-emission operation and the ability to benefit from electricity cost arbitrage are the among the reasons why Nexrail selected batteries rather than diesel to provide last-mile capabilities for a fleet of powerful locos it has ordered from Stadler, the leasing company’s CEO Luuk von Meijenfeldt tells Railway Gazette International.
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NewsBattery problems delay Dublin DART rolling stock introduction
IRELAND: Iarnród Éireann has confirmed that battery problems on the bi-mode multiple-units being manufactured by Alstom as part of the DART+ investment programme will delay the introduction of the suburban trains around Dublin.
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Rail Business UKScotRail launches suburban battery and electric train fleet procurement
UK: ScotRail has formally started the process of procuring a fleet of electric and battery-electric suburban multiple-units to enter service in the early 2030s.
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NewsBattery shunters deployed at Gabonese mine
GABON: Windhoff has supplied five battery-powered TeleTrac RW100AEM shunters and a cable drum wagon to Comilog’s manganese mine at Moanda, where they move trains of up to 130 wagons.
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NewsLithuania’s first Flirt electric train delivered to LTG Link
LITHUANIA: The first of the Flirt electric multiple-units ordered by national passenger operator LTG Link was delivered to Vilnius on the night of October 12-13, arriving from Stadler’s Polish factory by road because of its wide profile and 1 520 mm gauge.
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NewsStadler to supply battery and hydrogen trains for Italian narrow gauge lines
ITALY: Stadler has unveiled a 950 mm gauge battery trainset for Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, and signed a contract to supply two hydrogen trains to Ferrovia Circumetnea which also uses the so-called ’Italian metre gauge’.
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Rail Business UKElectric trains now running daily on the Coryton and Penarth lines
UK: Services on Transport for Wales Rail’s Coryton and Penarth lines are now being worked by Stadler Class 756 tri-mode electric-diesel-battery multiple-units following the completion of work to install discontinuous electrification on the routes.
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NewsWatco to deploy TugVolt autonomous self-propelled wagons
USA: Short line railway, terminal and port operating group Watco has reached a commercial agreement to deploy Intramotev’s TugVolt autonomous self-propelled wagon battery-electric wagons on its network.
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NewsSiemens Mobility starts work on €35m train battery system factory
GERMANY: Siemens Mobility begins construction of a rolling stock battery system factory with a groundbreaking ceremony at Luhe-Wildenau in Bayern.