The Anonymous Widower

Could A Cross-City Underground Railway Be Run Using Battery-Electric Trains?

Consider.

• Cross-city underground railways like London’s Bakerloo, Central, Jubilee,Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines are usually powered by third-rail technology, which can be dangerous, if someone falls on the track.
• Siemens new London Underground 2024 Stock, which is fully-described in this Wikipedia entry, has the following characteristics.
• A train width of 2.648 metres.
• A train height of 2.844 metres.
• Walk-through carriages
• Air-conditioning

They will also have batteries to support regenerative braking.

But say you were building a new underground line across a city like Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester.

Would the following be possible?

• The tunnel would be built as small as possible, which would probably mean that it was built faster and more economically.
• There would be no electrified rails or overhead wires to power the trains in the tunnel.
• The trains would be powered by batteries.
• Batteries would be charged by a pantograph, that erected to contact with an overhead line outside the tunnel.
• The central tunnel would be bored straight.
• When the train doors opened, passengers would be able to walk on a level surface into and out of the train.
• I believe it would be possible to align the train doors with openings in the tunnel wall at stations to eliminate the need for platform edge doors.

I believe that to design a train and tunnel to literally fit like a glove, could save a lot of money on building a cross-city underground line.

The New Southbound Northern Line Platform At Bank Station

These pictures show the new Southbound Northern Line Platform at Bank Station.

Note.

1. This is probably London Underground’s newest platform.
2. The step into and out of the train is fairly level.
3. This improvement has been achieved with new track and thirty-year-old rolling stock.

Have Siemens redesigned the platform/train interface in the London Underground 2024 Stock, so that the train/platform interface is even better?

• Who’s to know what you can do with modern computer-aided design techniques?
• If the train were to be battery-powered, so that conductor rails were not needed, would the extra space help fit everything in?
• If there were no live rails under the train, would this increase safety, both real and perceived?

I believe it might be possible to design a train/platform interface, that would work with simpler and more affordable platform edge doors.

We probably find out what is possible until the London Underground 2024 Stock enter service later this year.

May 25, 2025 - Posted by AnonW | Design, Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Health and Safety, London Underground 2024 Stock, Piccadilly Line, Platform Edge Doors, Siemens Mobility