Vivarail Wins Environment Award For Class 230 Train
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Advent.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Vivarail has announced that they have won the Environment award for their Class 230 battery train and fast charge system.
The awards are one of the industry’s top events.
The article also says this about the Class 230 trains.
- 60 miles range between charges
- 10 minute recharge time
- And can be fitted with range extenders (such as pantograph, genset or fuel cells)
Trains are getting more like houses.
After one useful life, someone comes along and gives them trains a makeover and they have a second useful life.
Romania Could Buy Hydrogen-Fueled Trains
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Romania Insider.
This is the first two paragraphs.
Romania could become the first country in Central and Eastern Europe to buy hydrogen-fueled trains for passenger rail transport, according to Club Feroviar online publication quoted by Economica.net.
Five such trains might be purchased to serve the new North Railway Station – Bucharest Airport line in the country’s capital city, a route that might be opened in 2020, the source said.
It looks like the trains could be off-the-shelf Alstom Coradia iLint trains, like the one in this picture at Buxtehude.
The article says that because the trains are non-polluting, European funding might be available.
TfGM Announces Contactless Payments On Metrolink Trams
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Rail Technology Magazine.
This is the first paragraph.
Passengers will be able to ‘touch-in’ using their contactless cards on Manchester Metrolink trams from July 15, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) announced today.
I shall be there with my contactless credit card on Monday week, to check that this is not fake news.
I look forward to the day, when Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds are all one contactless card area for trams, trains and buses.
When you consider that the combined area will be smaller than Greater London’s contactless area and that the distance between Lime Street and Leeds or Sheffield, is less than Reading to Shenfield, which will be contactless when Crossrail opens, the problems can’t be technological.
If the leaders of the four major Northern cities can agree this advance in ticketing, they will do more for the North, than any other short-term transport development will achieve.
East Midlands Railway’s New Look
The title of this post, is the same as a short article in Issue 882 of Rail Magazine.
What is interesting, is that it shows a visualisation of a Class 360 train in the new livery.
In Abellio East Midlands Railway’s Plans For London And Corby, I came to this conclusion.
I wouldn’t be surprised, if East Midlands Railway brought in Class 379 or Class 360 trains as a stop-gap and replaced them with electric versions of the bi-modes in 2022.
The best solution would be to obtain three twelve-car all-electric versions of the bi-modes by December 2020, to run the initial service.
Hitachi has a 125 mph electric Class 801 train and a 125 mph bi-mode Class 802 train.
Stadler has a 125 mph electric version of Greater Anglia’s Class 745 train and I suspect a compatible 125 mph bi-mode train.
Bombardier are working on a 125 mph bi-mode Aventra and have been quoted as saying Aventras can be stretched to 125 mph.It will be interesting to see what trains East Midlands Railway chooses.
By showing, a Class 360 train in their new livery, are they attempting to do one or all of the following.
- Get better terms for the nine interim trains they may need.
- Get better terms and earlier delivery for enough new twelve-car electric trains to run a 125 mph service between London and Corby.
- Trying to get better terms with the leasing companies to take back Class 379 and Class 360 trains, currently at Greater Anglia.
The Dutch can be tough negotiators.
Ride Quality In Class 345 And Class 710 Trains Compared
Yesterday, I had rides in two different Bombadier Aventras.
- Two Class 710 trains on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.
- Three Class 345 trains on Crossrail.
Both have a smooth ride, that we come to expect from modern trains.
But my bottom was telling me, that the ride on the Class 710 train was smoother.
I have read somewhere, that the train control system on the Class 345 train is a version of the MITRAC system used on many of Bombardier’s earlier trains and trams, which was certainly used on Class 379 trains.
As has been widely reported, Bombardier are introducing a new Train Management and Control System on the Class 710 trains.
They have also had a lot of trouble getting it to work properly.
If I am right about the ride being smoother, could it be that the new TMCS, has much better control of the traction motors and their power supply?
In The Formation Of A Class 710 Train, I stated that the formation of a Class 710 train is as follows.
DMS+PMS(W)+MS1+DMS
Note that all cars have motors, which must increase the smoothness of acceleration and braking.
But then Class 345 trains have lots of motors too!
In this article in Global Rail News from 2011, which is entitled Bombardier’s AVENTRA – A new era in train performance, gives some details of the Aventra’s electrical systems. This is said.
AVENTRA can run on both 25kV AC and 750V DC power – the high-efficiency transformers being another area where a heavier component was chosen because, in the long term, it’s cheaper to run. Pairs of cars will run off a common power bus with a converter on one car powering both. The other car can be fitted with power storage devices such as super-capacitors or Lithium-ion batteries if required. The intention is that every car will be powered although trailer cars will be available.
Unlike today’s commuter trains, AVENTRA will also shut down fully at night. It will be ‘woken up’ by remote control before the driver arrives for the first shift
This was published over eight years ago, so I suspect Bombardier have refined the concept.
Note this phrase.
The other car can be fitted with power storage devices such as super-capacitors or Lithium-ion batteries if required.
Could the Class 710 train be the first Aventra to take advantage of energy storage devices to provide a smoother power supply to traction motors?
The trains could be serial hybrids, like London’s Routemaster buses.
In a serial hybrid vehicle, the following happens.
- The power supply charges the energy storage device.
- The energy storage device provides power to the traction motors
- On braking, the traction motors use regenerative braking and the electricity generated is stored in the energy storage device.
- Power to provide services for the train comes from the energy storage device.
It is a very efficient system, which also has other advantages.
- The train can move for a short distance without external power.
- When the power supply is diesel, it doesn’t need to be run in sensitive areas, like stations.
- Depots and sidings don’t need to be electrified, which increases safety.
- As the extract said earlier, trains can have a remote wake-up capability.
The energy storage device between the power source and the traction system would have the effect of smoothing power fluctuations in the supply.
Energy storage devices also have a very low impedance.
- When the driver asks for maximum power, the energy storage devices can give all they’ve got immediately.
- When the driver applies the brakes, if they’ve got space, the energy storage devices, will lap it up the energy like a pack of thirsty hounds.
I have no proof, that Class 710 trains are serial hybrid trains, but I think there’s more than a good chance they are.
The trains run very smoothly, with good acceleration and smooth braking.
Perhaps, because the Class 345 trains were designed and built earlier, they had to use the less sophisticated MITRAC control system.
What Size Is The Energy Storage Device On A Class 710 Train?
In What Is The Kinetic Energy Of A Class 710 Train?, I calculated the energy of a Class 710 train.
I calculated the figures for a train with 700 passengers, each weighing 90 Kg for different speeds.
- 90 mph – 49.4 kWh – Operating speed of a Crossrail Class 345 train.
- 100 mph – 61.3 kWh – Operating speed of many electric multiple units.
Note that the amount of energy is proportional to the square of the speed.
As the energy storage device must be able to capture all of the braking energy if a train is trundling around North London, I would suspect that two fifty kWh batteries would be more than enough!
But a good control algorithm might cut this considerably!
A total of 100 kWh, would certainly be possible to put under a train, and could be a mix of the following.
- Fast response supercapacitors.
- High capacity lithium ion batteries or similar.
This is not an unknown combination on a battery-electric train or tram.
Conclusion
Supercapacitors could be the reason for the perceived smoother ride.
But don’t trust my nearly seventy-two year-old bottom!
Go and experience the trains for yourself and then post your thoughts here!
Battery Answer To Schleswig-Holstein’s Diesel Replacement Question
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
It is a good explanation of why there is so much interest in battery-powered trains.
This paragraph from the article, describes how the trains will operate in Schleswig-Holstein.
They will have range of 150 km under optimal conditions, although the longest non-electrified route they will operate on is around 80 km. The batteries will be recharged from the existing 15 kV 16·7 Hz overhead electrification at Kiel, Neumünster, Flensburg, Lübeck and Lüneburg stations and on the Osterrönfeld – Jübek line. Charging facilities will also be provided in other locations, and there will be some extensions to the existing overhead power supply.
Consider.
- These trains can run on routes of up to eighty kilometres or around fifty miles.
- Greater Anglia and Transport for Wales will be running the UK versions of the Stadler Flirts, that will be used in Schleswig-Holstein.
- Transport for Wales will also be running a tri-mode Flirt with electric, diesel and battery power.
- The Continental loading gauge, probably allows more batteries than the smaller UK loading gauge.
I think it could be reasonable to assume, that a UK-sized battery-electric Stadler Flirt could have a range of forty miles on batteries.
These could be possible routes for Greater Anglia.
- Norwich and Sheringham – 30 miles
- Norwich and Lowestoft – 23.5 miles
- Norwich and Great Yarmouth – 18 miles
- Ipswich and Felixstowe – 16 miles
- Colchester Town and Sudbury – 20 miles
In addition some partially-electrified routes have gaps less than forty miles. Think Cambridge and Ipswich!
I would not be surprised to see battery trains, quietly gliding around East Anglia.
Would they attract passengers and tourists?
Perhaps Germany and Stadler will give us the Schleswig-Holstein Answer, which will be much more interesting than the Schleswig-Holstein Question.
Economics Of Battery Trains
The article also has this quote from the CEO of Stadler Germany about the economics of battery trains.
It makes us very proud that with the battery-powered Flirt we have not only managed to find an ecological and innovative solution, but have also enabled a clear economic improvement. If we consider the average life of a rail vehicle of around 30 years, battery-operated vehicles are more cost-effective than diesel’.
I think it can also be said, that battery technology will improve continuously in the next thirty years and we should see a corresponding improvement in range and performance.
You don’t get that with diesel.
Hydrogen Or Battery Power?
I would think that Alstom are not happy about this order for battery-powered trains.
- Only a hundred kilometres or so to the West, they are supplying Alstom Coradia iLint trains for a similar network.
- These trains are working well.
- They have teamed up with Linde to supply the hydrogen.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Schleswig-Holstein had chosen hydrogen trains.
So why did Schleswig-Holstein, choose battery rather than hydrogen trains?
- Provided, the driver or a computer, raises and lowers the pantograph appropriately, there is no difference between an electric train and its battery-electric sibling.
- Systems to charge battery trains can be installed anywhere, there is an electricity supply.
- The electricity supply could be local wind or solar.
- Charging battery trains could be automatic and require no more action from the driver, than checking everything is as it should be and perhaps pushing a button or two. On a bleak miserable day, the driver would remain in the warm and comfortable cab.
- Hydrogen would need to be loaded on the train at a depot or another place with the necessary safety clearance.
- The iLint seats 160 and the Flirt Akku seats 124, so I suspect capacity isn’t much of a problem.
- The Flirt Akku is a train designed for battery-electric operation, whereas the iLint is a modified diesel train, with a noisy and harsh mechanical transmission. It’s like comparing Class 710 trains, with their predecessors on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line; the Class 172 trains.
- I suspect most Germans have talked to a relative or older person, who remembers the Hindenburg.
There is probably little to choose between the two trains, but I believe that the operation of the hydrogen-powered train will be more complicated.
I also don’t know the cost of each train.
As I said earlier, Stadler claim long-term ownership of battery-powered trains is more economic than diesel. Does the same apply to battery against hydrogen power.
Conclusion
I believe we’ll see lots more battery trains.
Seven Kings Station – 2nd July 2019
Seven Kings station appears to be substantially complete, as these pictures show..
A new bridge with lifts has been added to supplement the current stairs, which have been refurbished.
Brentwood Station – 2nd July 2019
I took these pictures of Brentwood station today.
For comparison, this second set of pictures were taken in October 2014 and I posted them in Before Crossrail – Brentwood Station.
Note the excellent toilets.
There is still work to do to finish the station.
The biggest problem appears to be squeezing the lifts into the structure.
There is this article on Essex Live, which is entitled Brentwood Station Lift Fiasco Is Penalising Buggy-Users And Disable People.
This is said in the article.
Network Rail has previously said that the decision to not install a lift on platform four was “not taken lightly.”
But, the discovery of power cables and a disused culvert underneath where the lift shaft would go led to Network Rail’s conclusion that a lift could not be installed there.
I’m afraid that station modifications are liberally sprinkled with stories like this.
Harold Wood Station – 2nd July 2019
Harold Wood station appears to be progressing towards completion.
These pictures were taken today.
For comparison, this second set of pictures were taken in October 2014 and I posted then in Before Crossrail – Harold Wood .
In the related post, I said this.
The station has toilets but a bad bridge and no lifts.
It won’t take much to get it ready for Crossrail.
It appears that the following work has been done.
- A temporary (?) step-free entrance has been built.
- A new bridge has been put in place.
- The platforms have been extended.
But the lift installation need finishing and the old station building needs refurbishing.
The station has the air of an overrunning refurbishing project or one that has run out of money.
The Anonymous Widower 