The Anonymous Widower

Riding In A Train Designed To Run On Battery Power

Today, I had my first ride in a train, that has been designed to be able to run on battery power.

  • Merseyrail’s Class 777 trains run normally using third-rail electrification.
  • But they are also designed to run on battery power.
  • I took these pictures of the train as it went from Liverpool Central station to Kirkby station and back to Moorfields station, from where I took a train back to Liverpool Lime Street station.

I took these pictures on the route.

Note.

  1. Every seat has access to a power and USB socket.
  2. Every head-rest has leather facings.
  3. The end lights change from white for front, to red for back, when the train changes direction.
  4. Door lights are green when it is safe to enter.
  5. There is a lot of attention to detail in the design.

If there is a better suburban train in Europe, I’ve yet to see or ride in it.

Noise And Vibration

Consider.

  • I have ridden in two trains converted to battery-electric operation and both were very quiet.
  • This train was also very quiet, but it has been designed for battery operation.
  • I suspect that the train is very frugal with electricity.
  • I wonder, if the small battery, that is carried on the train for depot movements, is also used for regenerative braking.
  • It might not be a traditional battery, but a supercapacitor, some of which are made from curved graphene.

This train certainly sets new standards in noise and vibration.

February 7, 2023 Posted by | Design, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

So Many Floating Wind Designs, So Few Test Sites – Norwegian METCentre Sold Out

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on offshoreWIND.biz.

This is the sub-heading.

There are currently more than 80 floating wind technology concepts and designs worldwide, and testing even a certain number of these could prove to be an endeavour since there are not many test sites dedicated to floating wind technology in Europe.

It strikes me that we need more test centres.

As UK waters will in the next couple of decades be home to a lot more GW of wind farms, perhaps we should develop a test centre.

I wonder, if South Wales would be the place for a test centre.

  • There is a lot of sea, which isn’t cluttered with oil and gas rigs, and wind farms.
  • There are a lot of wind farms planned in the area.
  • There are at least two good technology universities.
  • There are some deep water ports.
  • Electricity connections and power generation are good.
  • There is good train connections to the rest of England and Wales.
  • A train testing centre is being built at Nant Helen. Some tests needed to be done could be the same.

Some innovative designs for wind turbines are also being developed in South Wales.

 

 

February 7, 2023 Posted by | Energy | , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments