The Anonymous Widower

Enlightening Facts On Battery Trains

This article In Rail Magazine is entitled Vivarail Targets Summer Running For New Battery Unit.

The article says some enlightening things about the battery version of the Class 230 train.

• Four batteries are provided on the two-car train.
• The total battery capacity is 106 kWh. (Note: It has since been disclosed that the total battery capacity is 424 kWh!)
• An eight minute recharge is needed at the end of each run.
• A ten minute recharge gives a range of fifty miles.

Nothing is said of the speed and acceleration of the train on battery power.

How would these figures fit Vivarail’s order for three trains from West Midlands Trains to serve the Marston Vale Line?

• The route is approximately twenty-five miles long.
• Trains currently take forty-three minutes with ten stops.
• Overhead electrification could be available at both ends of the line, as both Bedford and Bletchley station are on 25 KVAC  main lines.

Do the sums!

February 22, 2018 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Class 230 Train, Marston Vale Line, West Midlands Trains