Zero Emission Powering of Auxiliary Loads In Stations
This project was one of the winners in the First Of A Kind 2022 competition run by Innovate UK.
In this document, this is said about the project.
Project No: 10038972
Project title: Zero Emission Powering of Auxiliary Loads In Stations
Lead organisation: WABTEC UK LIMITED
Project grant: £59,921
Public description:
This project provides a solution to substantially reduce emissions including NOx and PM when diesel passenger trains are idling.
There are over 3,500 passenger rail vehicles in the UK currently fitted with a diesel engine, the large majority of these would significantly benefit from emissions reduction, especially in and around stations, where diesel engines currently continue to idle, or elevated idle whilst stationary, sometimes for up to 30 minutes at a terminal station. This is a significant contributor to local air quality issues from NOx, PM emissions etc.
Brecknell Willis aim to further develop their existing current collection product portfolio by producing
a low-cost, automated shore supply for powering the auxiliary loads of each vehicle and enabling
the diesel engines to be disabled while stationary.
This project will enable several key cost and decarbonisation benefits to the railway.
- It shall enable zero emissions, including NOx and PM, in and around the station, by
enabling a DMU to dwell at any enabled station or depot with the engine switched off
through an automated shore supply. - It shall enable a proportional average reduction in all emissions, through reduced fuel consumption due to not using the diesel engine whilst the vehicle is stationary.
- It shall enable reduced operating costs for the train operator through fuel saving.
- It will not require any modification to the existing diesel engines or drivetrain and will compliment any other decarbonisation initiatives.
- It shall provide a substantially lower cost and risk solution when compared to any other previous or current hybrid solutions.
My Thoughts And Conclusions
The Anonymous Widower 
[…] I suspect, it can also be paired with Wabtec’s other proposal; Zero Emission Powering of Auxiliary Loads In Stations. […]
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[…] 10038972 – Zero Emission Powering of Auxiliary Loads In Stations […]
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This I understand, although why they need to idle for so long is confusing since I clearly remember that British Rail were determined that trains should not idle for more than 10 minutes. It’s even in the IMechE Proceedings of the Railway Division somewhere.
I do know that poor maintenance of the pneumatic systems often leads to Brake Compressors, which are engine driven having to run at elevated periods.
Comment by fammorris | November 18, 2022 |
As this is a Wabtec project, perhaps the need has been pointed out by maintenance statistics.
Comment by AnonW | November 18, 2022 |