The Anonymous Widower

The Data Sheet For Hitachi Battery Electric Trains

Was I just slow to spot this data sheet or has it only just been released?

You can download a copy from this page on the Hitachi web site.

In a section on the page, which is entitled Intercity Battery Trains, this is said.

A quick and easy application of battery technology is to install it on existing or future Hitachi intercity trains. Adding just one battery reduces emissions by more than 20% and offers cost savings of 20-30%.

Our intercity battery powered trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same or increased performance. Hitachi Rail’s modular design means this can be done without the need to re-engineer or rebuild the train and return them to service as quickly as possible for passengers.

These are my initial thoughts.

Plug-and-Play

It looks like the train is plug-and-play.

A diesel engine will be swapped for a battery-pack and the train’s computer controls the power sources accordingly.

Hitachi’s Battery Philosophy Explained

This is said on the data sheet.

Battery technology has the potential to play a significant role in the future of sustainable rail mobility, setting
the rail industry on the path to full intercity decarbonisation by 2050.
Installing batteries on intercity trains can complement electrification and provide a low emission alternative
to domestic air travel.

Our retrofit solution for intercity trains offers phased replacement of diesel engines at the time that they would
have been due for their regular heavy maintenance overhaul, replacing each engine in turn until trains are fully battery electric. The solution delivers fuel cost savings and lowers CO2 emissions by at least 20% for every engine replaced, and a 20% reduction in whole life maintenance costs – well within the battery’s life span of 8-10 years.

Performance On Battery Power

The data sheet gives these bullet points.

  • 750kW peak power
  • Weight neutral.
  • At least 20% lower CO2 emissions
  • 70km on non-electrified routes
  • 20% reduction in whole life maintenance costs
  • Up to 30% fuel cost savings
  • Zero emissions in and out of stations
  • Charge on the move
  • 10 year life span

Note.

  1. 750 kW peak power, is around the power of the diesel-engine, that will be replaced.
  2. I wouldn’t be surprised that powerwise, the battery pack looks like a diesel engine.
  3. Weight neutral means that acceleration, performance and handling will be unchanged.
  4. Batteries are easier to maintain than diesels.
  5. It is stated that a train can be fully-decarbonised.

I have a feeling these trains are no ordinary battery-electric trains.

Seventy Kilometre Range On Battery

Seventy kilometres is 43.5 miles.

This may not seem much, but the data sheet says this.

Our battery hybrid trains can cover 70km on non-electrified routes, operating at intercity speeds at the same
or increased performance. By identifying the routes with short non-electrified sections of 70km or less, we could
see the replacement of existing diesel trains with fully battery-operated trains on those routes within a year.
And, using battery power to avoid electrifying the hardest and most expensive areas, such as tunnels and bridges,
enables flexibility on electrification, minimising passenger disruption during upgrades.

Note.

  1. It looks like the trains can operate at 125 mph on battery power, where the track allows it. But then the rolling restistance of steel wheel on steel rail, is much lower, than that of rubber tyres on tarmac.
  2. Hitachi seem to have developed a philosophy on how the trains will be used.
  3. Hitachi’s pantographs, go up and down with all the alacrity of a whore’s drawers. They will be ideal for a short length of electrification.

I think these LNER routes could be immediately decarbonised.

  • LNER – London and Harrogate , where only 18.3 miles is unelectrified. Trains may not need charging, as a full battery could handle both ways.
  • LNER – London and Hull, where 36.1 miles is unelectrified. A short length of electrification to charge trains would be needed at Hull.
  • LNER – London and Lincoln, where only 16.7 miles is unelectrified. Trains would not need charging, as a full battery could handle both ways.
  • LNER – London and Middlesbrough, where only 20.3 miles is unelectrified. Trains would not need charging, as a full battery could handle both ways.

Note.

  1. It looks like some services could start fairly soon, once batteries are available.
  2. Hull Trains could use the 70 km batteries and charging at Hull, as it passed through. This would decarbonise Hull Trains passenger operations.
  3. Services to Aberdeen, Cleethorpes and Inverness would be out of range of the initial Hitachi trains.

Could the last point, partially explain the purchase of the CAF tri-mode trains, which I wrote about in First Tri-Mode Long Distance Trains For The East Coast Main Line?

We shall see what we shall see.

But having a choice of battery-electric or tri-mode trains will enable route development and decarbonisation.

What Is The Size Of The Battery Pack?

In How Much Power Is Needed To Run A Train At 125 Or 100 mph?, I estimated that to maintain 125 mph, a Class 801 train has a usage figure of 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile.

If a five-car Class 800 can run 70 km or 43.5 miles at 125 mph, as indicated by Hitachi, then the battery size can be calculated.

3.42 * 5 * 43.5 = 743.85 kWh

As the battery pack can supply 750 kW according to the data sheet, this looks like this will run the train for an hour.

Is that coincidence or a design criteria?

What Battery Capacity Would Be Needed For A Hundred Miles?

For a five-car train, this is the energy needed for a hundred miles.

3.42 *5 * 100 = 1710 kWh or three batteries.

For a nine-car train, this is the energy needed for a hundred miles.

3.42 *9 * 100 = 3078 kWh or five batteries.

It looks like all diesel engines will be replaced by batteries.

Will Class 801 Trains Swap Their Single Diesel Engine For a Battery Power Pack?

Consider.

  • Class 801 trains have a single diesel engine for emergency power.
  • Lumo’s Class 803 trains, are all-electric with a battery-pack for emergency hotel power only.
  • Hitachi must have full details on the performance of Lumo’s trains.
  • The East Coast Main Line is notorious for the wires to come tumbling down.
  • The diesel engine and the battery pack appear to weigh the same.
  • Batteries cost less to maintain than diesels.

I can’t see why the single diesel engine can’t be replaced by a standard battery pack, without loosing any functionality.

What Would Be The Range Of A Fully Battery-Electric Train?

This is a paragraph from a data sheet.

Our retrofit solution for intercity trains offers phased replacement of diesel engines at the time that they would
have been due for their regular heavy maintenance overhaul, replacing each engine in turn until trains are fully battery electric. The solution delivers fuel cost savings and lowers CO2 emissions by at least 20% for every engine replaced, and a 20% reduction in whole life maintenance costs – well within the battery’s life span of 8-10 years.

Note.

  1. It looks like Hitachi are expecting operators to replace engines in turn.
  2. Replacing engines with batteries saves the operators money.

As a five-car Class 800 train has three diesel engines and a nine-car train has five engines, does this mean that the range of fully-batteried Class 800 train is 70 km or 210 km?

  • A fully-batteried Class 800 train will weigh the same as the current diesel.
  • One battery can drive the train for 70 km at 125 mph according to Hitachi.
  • There are no branches of electrified lines that are 125 mph lines without electrification.
  • I would assume that the train can use regenerative braking to recharge the batteries.
  • 210 kilometres is 130 miles.

I don’t know much about the electrical systems of Hitachi’s trains, but it is likely that there will be an electrical bus to distribute power from one end of the train to the other.

So a five-car Class 800 train with three fully-charged battery packs could have over 2 MWh of electricity on board, that could be used for traction.

  • Applying the usage figure of 3.42 kWh per vehicle mile, gives a range for the five-car train of at least 117 miles.
  • The equivalent figure for a nine-car train will be at least 121 miles.

These distances would open up routes like these on the East Coast Main Line.

  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Aberdeen – 91.4 miles – Charge before return.
  • LNER/Hull Trains – London King’s Cross and Beverley via Temple Hirst junction – 44.3 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • Grand Central – London King’s Cross and Bradford Interchange via Shaftholme junction – 47.8 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Cleethorpes via Newark and Lincoln – 63.9 miles – Charge before return.
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Harrogate via Leeds – 18.3 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Inverness– 146.2 miles – Charge before return.
  • LNER/Hull Trains – London King’s Cross and Hull via Temple Hirst junction – 36.1 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Middlesbrough via Northallerton – 20.3 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • LNER – London King’s Cross and Scarborough via York – 42.1 miles – No Charging needed before return.
  • LNER/Grand Central – London King’s Cross and Sunderland via Northallerton – 47.4 miles – No Charging needed before return.

Note.

  1. The miles are the longest continuous distance without electrification.
  2. Only Aberdeen, Cleethorpes and Inverness would need to charge trains before return.
  3. Inverness may be too far. But is it in range of LNER’s new CAF tri-mode trains?

The battery range  would also allow LNER to use the Lincoln diversion on the Joint Line.

Why Didn’t LNER Buy More Azumas?

This puzzles me and I suspect it puzzles other people too.

Surely, an all Azuma fleet will be easier to manage.

But in this article on Modern Railways, which is entitled LNER Orders CAF Tri-mode Sets, this is said.

Modern Railways understands the new fleet will be maintained at Neville Hill depot in Leeds and, like the ‘225’ sets, will be used predominantly on services between London and Yorkshire, although unlike the ‘225s’ the tri-modes, with their self-power capability, will be able to serve destinations away from the electrified network such as Harrogate and Hull.

Note.

  1. Hull would possibly need work to provide some form of charging for battery-electric Azumas, but Harrogate is close enough to be served by a one-battery Azuma.
  2. The CAF Tri-mode sets would certainly handle routes like Cleethorpes, Middlesbrough and Sunderland, but would they really need a ten-car train.
  3. Ten-car trains would also be busy on the Leeds route.
  4. The UK is going to need more 125 mph trains for Cross Country, Grand Central, Grand Union, TransPennine Express and possibly other train companies.
  5. Has Hitachi got the capacity to build the trains in the UK?

So has the Government given the order to CAF to create a level of competition?

Conclusions

These are my conclusions about Hitachi’s battery packs for Class 80x trains, which were written in November 2023.

  • The battery pack has a capacity of 750 kWh.
  • A five-car train needs three battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
  • A nine-car train needs five battery-packs to travel 100 miles.
  • The maximum range of a five-car train with three batteries is 117 miles.
  • The maximum range of a nine-car train with five batteries is 121 miles.

As battery technology gets better, these distances will increase.

Hitachi have seen my figures.

They also told me, that they were in line with their figures, but new and better batteries would increase range.

In July 2025, I wrote Batteries Ordered For Grand Central Inter-City Trains, which mentions the following.

  • Grand Central’s trains will be electric-diesel-battery hybrid inter-city trainsets.
  • The trains will have lithium ion phosphate batteries.
  • The trains will be delivered in 2028.
  • The batteries will be smaller and more powerful, than current batteries.

This is also said about safety, hazards and cybersecurity.

The Safety Integrity Level 2 and IEC 61508 compliant battery management system will detect and mitigate hazards and meet the IEC 62243 cybersecurity standard.

These batteries would appear to give Hitachi and Grand Central Trains everything they want and need.

It looks like the new battery chemistry, will give Hitachi extra range.

November 14, 2023 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments