Hitachi Rail Names Preferred Supplier For Battery System Development For UK Trial
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
These are the first two paragraphs.
Hitachi Rail UK is continuing its commitment to electrification and sustainability as it has teamed with a UK based Technology firm to design and supply its traction and battery systems for its intercity battery train trial which it hopes to run in the future.
Working with the North East England Partnership and Turntide Technologies, Hitachi UK Rail are working towards a UK trial for its battery technology which is engineered to reduce emissions and fuel costs. It is hoped, that if successful, it’ll advance the UK’s position as a global leader in battery train technology.
Note.
- Turntide Technologies took over Hyperdrive Innovation.
- Turntide Technologies have designed and built systems for JCB.
Up until now, we have been told very little about the batteries.
I have the following questions.
Is The Battery System In The Class 803 Trains For Lumo By Turntide Technologies/Hyperdrive Innovation?
The Wikipedia entry for Lumo, says this about the design of the Class 803 train.
Services are operated by a fleet of 125 mph (200 km/h) Class 803 electric multiple unit trains, ordered in March 2019 at a cost of £100 million, financed by the rail leasing company Beacon Rail.[15] While based on the same Hitachi AT300 design as the Class 801 Azuma trains operated on the East Coast Main Line by franchised operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER), they are not fitted with an auxiliary diesel engine, but instead feature batteries intended solely to power onboard facilities in case of overhead line equipment failure.
The maker of the batteries has not been disclosed.
If they have been made by Turntide, then they would certainly have had a good vibration testing.
Is The Battery System In The Class 803 Trains Similar To That Proposed For Class 800/802/805/810 Trains?
It would seem sensible, as this would mean that Hitachi would only be introducing one type of battery into the various fleets.
Supporting structures and wiring harnesses would then be identical in all trains, whether diesel engines or batteries were to be fitted.
Are The Batteries Plug Compatible With Similar Performance To The Diesel Engines?
I have never driven a train, but I have ridden in the cab of an InterCity 125, as I wrote about in Edinburgh to Inverness in the Cab of an HST.
The driver controls the two locomotives individually, just like I controlled the two engines in my Cessna 340 with two separate throttles.
So how does a driver control all the three engines in a five-car Class 800 train or the five engines in a nine-car?
Put simply, the driver just tells the computer, what speed or power is required and the train’s computer adjusts al the engines accordingly.
I believe it would be possible to design battery packs that are plug-compatible with similar performance to the diesel engines.
Hitachi could be playing an old Electrical/Electronic Engineer’s trick.
As a sixteen-year-old, I spent a Summer in a rolling mills, building replacement transistorised control units for the old electronic valve units. They had been designed, so they were plug-compatible and performed identically.
The great advantage of this approach, is that no changes were needed to the rolling mill.
So if Hitachi are using a similar approach, there should be very few or even no changes to the train.
What Range Will A Class 800 Train Have On Batteries?
This article on Focus Transport is entitled 224-kilometre Battery Range For FLIRT Akku – Stadler Sets World Record For Guinness Book Of Records.
I would be very surprised if Hitachi don’t break that record of 224 kilometres or 139 miles.
Conclusion
I belive we’re going to see a real revolution in rail transport.
Do Network Rail Have A Cunning Plan To Run Battery Electric Trains To Wigan Wallgate And Blackburn?
This news story, which is entitled £72 million Boost For Train Services In Manchester And The North, was released by the government today.
This is the sub-heading.
This package will improve the passenger experience by having more reliable trains and fewer delays.
These two paragraphs describe the work.
The funding will deliver a third platform at Salford Crescent station and track improvement work across north Manchester to help reduce delays, bottlenecks and station overcrowding, meaning passengers will enjoy more comfortable and reliable journeys.
Manchester Victoria Station will also benefit from extra entry and exit points to platforms, making it easier for passengers to travel through the station during busier periods.
These are my thoughts.
Battery-Electric Trains
New Merseyrail Train Runs 135km On Battery says a lot about the capabilities of modern battery-electric multiple units.
135 km is 84 miles and if you look at services in the Wigan and Blackburn area, these are the services, currently run by diesel trains on lines without electrification.
- Blackburn and Bolton – 13.9 miles
- Blackburn and Manchester Victoria – 39.4 miles
- Hindley and Salford Crescent – 16.2 miles
- Southport and Wigan Wallgate – 17.4 miles
- Kirkby and Wigan Wallgate – 12 miles
- Clitheroe and Bolton – 23.7 miles
- Manchester Piccadilly and Buxton – 19 miles
I believe that a modern battery-electric train would be able to handle all these routes, with assistance from regenerative braking and Newton’s friend.
I also believe that CAF, Hitachi, Siemens and Stadler would be capable of building a battery-electric train for these routes.
This OpenRailwayMap shows the electrification between Wigan and Lostock Junction.
Note.
- Wigan is in the South-West corner of the map.
- Lostock Junction is in the North-East corner of the map.
- The black and red line between Wigan and Lostock Junction indicates the track is being electrified with 25 KVAC overhead electrification.
- The black line going East to the South-East corner of the map is the unelectrified line to Salford Crescent via Atherton.
- At Lostock Junction the line joins the electrified Manchester and Preston Line via Bolton.
Network Rail’s layout means that trains to Kirkby, Southport and Salford Crescent via Atherton can all charge their batteries in a convenient station before embarking to their destination without electrification.
The Third Platform At Salford Crescent Station
Three platforms at Salford Crescent will give capacity advantages.
But it will also mean, that if all battery-electric trains for Wigan Wallgate via Atherton can have a dedicated platform, that if necessary, they can use to top up the batteries.
Northern’s Trans-Pennine Services
Northern Trains run four hourly trains across the Pennines.
- York and Blackpool North via Church Fenton, Garforth, Leeds, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Hebden Bridge, Burnley Manchester Road, Accrington, Blackburn, Preston, Kirkham & Wesham and Poulton-le-Fylde.
- Leeds and Manchester Victoria via Bramley, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Rochdale.
- Leeds and Wigan Wallgate via Morley, Batley, Dewsbury, Ravensthorpe, Mirfield, Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Walsden, Littleborough, Smithy Bridge, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Salford Central, Salford Crescent, Swinton, Moorside, Walkden, Atherton, Hag Fold, Daisy Hill, Hindley and Ince.
- Leeds and Chester via Bramley, New Pudsey, Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Sowerby Bridge, Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale, Manchester Victoria, Newton-le-Willows, Earlestown and Warrington Bank Quay.
Note.
- All routes are partly electrified.
- Hebden Bridge gets four trains per hour (tph).
- Bradford Interchange, Halifax, New Pudsey Rochdale, Sowerby Bridge, Todmorden and Manchester Victoria get three tph.
- It is a comprehensive set of routes serving nearly fifty stations in the North.
Stretches of line without electrification include.
- Chester and Earlstown – 23 miles
- Leeds and Manchester Victoria – 49.8 miles
- Leeds and Blackburn – 50.2 miles
- Hindley and Salford Crescent – 16.2 miles
There may be a need to electrify Blackburn and Preston or some other short sections.
Conclusion
I have a feeling that most of the diesel services in Manchester could be replaced by battery-electric trains.
The Anonymous Widower 