Battery traction news – Page 8
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NewsBattery train supply and operation contract awards completed
GERMANY: All the contracts are now in place for the financing, supply, maintenance and operation of a large fleet of battery multiple-units for non-electrified routes in Schleswig-Holstein, with the award of the final operating contract following a tendering process which led to a legal challenge. Having ...
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NewsBattery EMUs ordered to replace diesel on partially electrified network
GERMANY: DB Regio has been awarded two regional passenger train operating contracts in Rheinland-Pfalz, and has placed an order for 44 Stadler Flirt Akku battery-electric multiple-units to meet a requirement for services on the 240 km partially electrified Pfalznetz Lot 1 network to be converted from ...
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NewsBattery-electric multiple-units ordered to improve services and cut emissions
GERMANY: Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn has awarded Siemens Mobility a contract to supply a fleet of 31 battery-electric Mireo Plus B multiple-units for use on Netz Ostbrandenburg services northeast of Berlin. The order announced on November 15 includes spare parts and 12 years of maintenance, with the manufacturer ...
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Rail Business UKTransPennine Express to trial inter-city battery hybrid train
UK: Hitachi Rail, Angel Trains and TransPennine Express have agreed in principle to retrofit a traction battery to a five-car Class 802 Nova 1 electro-diesel trainset to create a trimode unit for trials.
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NewsRail and public transport ‘too low on COP26 agenda’, warn UIC and UITP
INTERNATIONAL: The International Union of Railways and global public transport association UITP marked the formal transport day at the COP26 Climate Summit on November 10 by urging policymakers to focus more effort on decarbonising mobility through modal shift.
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NewsCanadian National buys battery locomotive
USA: Canadian National’s Bessemer & Lake Erie Railroad has purchased a Wabtec FLXdrive battery-electric freight locomotive, with financial support from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Marine & Rail Freight Movers grant programme. Wabtec’s FLXdrive battery loco is designed to work in multiple with conventional diesel ...
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NewsPrototype autonomous battery-powered wagon aims to help rail compete with trucks
USA: Technology company Intramotev is developing a prototype self-powered autonomous wagon, which it hopes can make rail freight more competitive over distances of up to 1 500 km.
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NewsBattery rather than hydrogen trains suggested in Sachsen study
GERMANY: The use of battery rather than hydrogen traction is recommended in a study into options for replacing diesel multiple-units on regional routes around Dresden where electrification is unlikely in the short to medium term. The study found that hydrogen and battery power would each be ...
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NewsBattery trains ordered for Hermann-Hesse-Bahn
GERMANY: Baden-Württemberg’s rolling stock owning body SFBW has ordered three Mireo Plus B battery-electric multiple-units from Siemens Mobility for use on Hermann-Hesse-Bahn services from December 2023. The BEMUs will use the 15 kV 16·7 Hz overhead electrification for power and to charge their batteries between Renningen ...
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NewsBattery train fast charging station tested
GERMANY: A prototype Voltap rapid charging station for battery trains has been tested under real-world conditions for the first time Voltap has been developed by railway electrification technology specialist Furrer+Frey and Tübingen municipal utilities company SWT. The aim is to produce a ...
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Rail Business UKRevolution Very Light Rail demonstrator offers options for branch line revival
Rail Business UK takes a ride on the Revolution Very Light Rail vehicle, which is designed to provide an attractive, low-cost option to facilitate the reopening of disused branch lines and extending existing lines.
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NewsNew leasing company targets non-electrified routes with SmartHybrid locos
EUROPE: Private equity infrastructure investor InfraVia Capital Partners has formed Nexrail Lease to supply low-emission locomotives for unelectrified routes. The new leasing company has placed a framework order for up to 50 Vossloh Locomotives DE18 Stage V SmartHybrid locos, and taken over 53 existing locos. CRRC ...
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NewsIron ore miner orders heavy-haul battery locomotive
AUSTRALIA: Mining company Roy Hill has ordered a Wabtec FLXdrive battery-electric heavy-haul freight locomotive. This will replace one the four ES44ACi diesel-electric locos used to haul its 2 700 m long iron ore trains, and is expected to reduce fuel costs and emissions by ‘double digit’ ...
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NewsThailand looks at battery traction
THAILAND: The Ministry of Transport is pushing ahead with the procurement of battery railcars, and consideration is being given to local production and the conversion of existing diesel locomotives to battery power. The Department of Rail Transport and State Railway of Thailand have been tasked with ...
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NewsBattery electric multiple-unit demonstrated
GERMANY: Alstom has demonstrated its prototype battery-powered Talent 3 electric-multiple unit in Sachsen, with the company’s President for Germany, Austria & Switzerland Müslüm Yakisan emphasising that the company ‘has the clear goal of becoming the international leader in alternative drive technologies for rail travel’. The prototype ...
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In depthComment: Modal shift still key to rail’s green agenda
In the transport sector, the urge to decarbonise is manifesting itself in an increasingly frenetic push for the roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology to replace internal combustion in everything from cars to small aircraft. These offer significant potential for decarbonising rail too, but should not be prioritised over the need to deliver modal shift from more polluting forms of mobility, argues our Managing Editor Nick Kingsley.
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News‘Enormous potential’ to cut CO2 emissions with battery traction
GERMANY: A strategy for widespread adoption of battery-electric trains for local and regional passenger services has been put forward by Germany’s Railway Industry Association. With academic input from the technical universities of Berlin and Dresden, the report is presented as a background and position paper intended ...
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Rail Business UKHybridFLEX prototype battery-diesel multiple-unit launched
UK: Chiltern Railways has unveiled its prototype HybridFLEX multiple-unit fitted with a hybrid traction system which can offer zero emissions and near silent operation at stations and in other sensitive locations. Developed by the operator, leasing company Porterbrook and MTU PowerPack supplier Rolls-Royce, the HybridFLEX uses ...
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Rail Business UKIndustry welcomes electrification and modal shift commitments in transport decarbonisation plan
UK: Commitments to electrification, network expansion and modal shift are included in the Decarbonising transport: a better, greener Britain plan published by the government on July 14, along with the selective deployment of hydrogen and battery trains. ‘Transport decarbonisation is a dull way of describing something ...
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NewsBattery-hybrid Venture trains in $3·4bn Amtrak inter-city fleet renewal order
USA: Amtrak has awarded Siemens Mobility contracts to supply 73 trainsets including electro-diesel and diesel-battery hybrid vehicles to operate medium-distance inter-city routes. ‘These new trains will reshape the future of rail travel by replacing our ageing 40 to 50 year old fleet with state-of-the-art, American-made equipment’, ...