Leaves On The line? AI Signals End To Commuters’ Train Pain
The title of this article is the same as that of an article, that was on the front page of yesterday’s copy of The Times.
It talks about a system being developed by Hack Partners, that uses a camera to record lineside trees and then a computer using AI directs tree cutting gangs to the right places.
This is one of several systems that are to be funded by the Government. This paragraph summarised the grants.
The DfT and Innovate UK, the government’s technology agency, will announce today that up to £7.8 million is being invested in 24 trials of projects to boost performance on the railway. Each will receive between £250,000 and £350,000.
I particularly like a system from a Dutch company called 4Silence, which is designed to cut the noise of trains, which is described like this.
other schemes being funded include a noise barrier only 1m high topped by a steel grid, developed by the Dutch company 4Silence, which can deflect the sound of passing trains, improving the quality of life for residents near by.
I wonder what percentage of these trials will be winners.
I hope those who judge the success of these schemes, except that not all innovation succeeds.
Is There Nothing A Class 319 Train Can’t Do?
If a train every goes into orbit round the world, it will be highly-likely that it will be a Class 319 train!
Electric Trains In North-West England
The fleet of eighty-six trains entered service in 1987 on Thameslink and now twenty-seven are plying their trade on the electrified routes around the North-West of England.
- You don’t hear many complaints about them being called London’s cast-offs.
- Passengers fill them up in Blackpool, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston.
- They still do 100 mph where possible.
- They seem to be reliable.
- They are not the most attractive of trains.
But handsome is as handsome does!
Drivers have told me, that although the suspension may be a bit soft for the bumpy route across Chat Moss, the trains do have superb brakes.
Bi-Mode Class 769 Trains
Nearly thirty of the trains are being converted into bi-mode Class 769 trains for working partially-electrifired routes and although these are running late, they should be in service this year.
Rail Operations Group
Two Class 769 trains have been ordered to be fast logistics trains by Rail Operations Group.
Wikipedia says the trains will be used to transport mail.
But if you read the history of the Rail Operations Group, they make the assets sweat and I’ve read the trains will still have seats, so they might do some other rail operations.
The Hydrogen-Powered Class 799 Train
And now comes the Class 799 train!
This is a demonstrator to prove the concept of conversion to hydrogen power.
The fact that the train now has it’s own number must be of some significance.
Alstom are converting Class 321 trains into Class 321 Breeze trains.
- The conversion will reduce passenger capacity, due to the large hydrogen tank
- It will have a 1,000 km range.
- It will have regenerative breaking.
- It will have a new AC traction package
- It will probably have the interior of a Class 321 Renatus train.
The conversion will obviously build on Alstom’s experience with the Alstom Coradia iLint train and Eversholt’s experience with the Renatus.
When it comes to the Class 799 train, the following will apply.
- Porterbrook have all the experience of creating the bi-mode and dual-voltage Class 769 train.
- Birmingham University’s Birmingham Centre For Railway Research And Education (BCRRE) are providing the expertise to design and convert the Class 319 train to hydrogen power.
- I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out, that the BCRRE has applied some very extensive mathematical modelling to find out the performance of a hydrogen-powered Class 319 train or HydroFLEX train.
- The conversion could be based closely on Class 769 experience and sub-systems,
Could the main purpose be to demonstrate the technology and ascertain the views of train operators and passengers on hydrogen power?
The most important question, is whether the Class 799 train, will have the same passenger capacity as the original Class 319 train?
If it does, then BCRRE must have found a way to store the hydrogen in the roof or under the floor.
It should be noted, that it was only in September 2018, that the contract to develop the Class 799 train was signed and yet less than a year later BCRRE and Porterbrook will be demonstrating the train at a trade show.
This short development time, must mean that there is not enough time to modify the structure of the train to fit a large hydrphen tank inside, as Alstom are proposing.
A smaller hydrogen tank could be placed in one of three places.
- Underneath the train.
- On the roof.
- Inside the train, if it is small enough to fit through the train’s doors.
Note.
- I doubt that anybody would put the tank inside the train for perceived safety reasons from passengers.
- On the roof, would require substantial structural modifications. Is there enough time?
So how do you reduce the size of the hydrogen tank and still store enough hydrogen in it to give the train a useful range?
In Better Storage Might Give Hydrogen The Edge As Renewable Car Fuel, I indicated technology from Lancaster University, that could store four times as much hydrogen in a given size of tank.
This reduced tank size would make the following possible.
- The hydrogen tank, the fuel cell and the batteries could be located underneath the four-cars of the Class 319 train.
- The seating capacity of the Class 799 train could be the same as that of a Class 319 train.
Clever electronics would link everything together.
If BCRRE succeed in their development and produce a working hydrogen-powered Class 799 train, how would the technology be used?
Personally, I don’t think we’ll see too many hydrogen-powered Class 799 trains, running passengers on the UK network.
- The trains are based on a thirty-year-old train.
- The interiors are rather utilitarian and would need a lot of improvement, to satisfy what passengers expect.
- Their market can probably be filled in the short-term by more Class 769 trains.
But I do believe that the technology could be applied to more modern trains.
A Hydrogen-Powered Electrostar
Porterbrook own at least twenty four-car Electrostar trains, which have been built in recent years.
Six Class 387 trains, currently used by c2c, may come off lease in the next few years.
Could these trains be converted into a train with the following specification?
- Modern train interior, with lots of tables and everything passengers want.
- No reduction in passenger capacity.
- 110 mph operating speed using electrification.
- Useful speed and range on hydrogen power.
- ERTMS capability, which Porterbrook are fitting to the Class 387 trains to be used by Heathrow Express.
It should be born in mind, that a closely-related Class 379 train proved the concept of a UK battery train.
- The train was converted by Bombardier.
- It ran successfully for three months between Manningtree and Harwich.
- The interior of the train was untouched.
But what was impressive was that the train was converted to battery operation and back to normal operation in a very short time.
This leads me to think, that adding new power sources to an Electrostar, is not a complicated rebuild of the train’s electrical system.
If the smaller hydrogen tank, fuel cell and batteries can be fitted under a Class 319 train, I suspect that fitting them under an Electrostar will be no more difficult.
I believe that once the technology is proven with the Class 799 train, then there is no reason, why later Electrostars couldn’t be converted to hydrogen power.
- Class 387 trains from c2c, Great Northern and Great Western Railway.
- Class 379 trains, that will be released from Greater Anglia by new Class 745 trains.
- Class 377 trains from Southeastern could be released by the new franchise holder.
In addition, some Class 378 trains on the London Overground could be converted for service on the proposed West London Orbital Railway.
A Hydrogen-Powered Aventra
If the Electrostar can be converted, I don’t see why an Aventra couldn’t be fitted with a similar system.
Conclusion
A smaller hydrogen tank, holding hydrogen at a high-density would enable trains to be converted without major structural modifications or reducing the passenger capacity.
The development of a more efficient method of hydrogen storage, would open up the possibilities for the conversion of trains to electric-hydrogen hybrid trains.
42 Technology To Showcase Adaptable Carriage On Innovation Hub Train
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Cambridge Network,
This page on the 42 Technology web site, is the original press release.
These are the first two paragraphs.
42 Technology has installed its innovative Adaptable Carriage seating system into a real train carriage for the first time as part of its Innovate UK ‘First of a Kind’ project.
The system has been installed on Porterbrook’s Innovation Hub which will be launched next week at Rail Live 2019 (19-20 June) at Quinton Rail Technology Centre, the dedicated rail testing and trialling site near Stratford-upon-Avon.
Porterbrook’s Innovation Hub is a Class 319 train, that is made available for innovators.
Like 42 Technology, an innovator might have ideas for how to design the inside of a train, or someone might want to run an innovative freight service and wants to design the containers.
At the lowest level, the Innovation Hub, gives innovators, the chance to see inside a real train.
This article on the BBC is entitled Pacer trains ‘could be used as village halls’.
Surely, the leasing companies, who own these trains should park one at a convenient site and allow interested parties and the wider public to look at it.
Who knows what will happen? There are some crazy people with even crazier ideas out there! But successful innovation is liberally sprinkled with people, who were three-quarters of the way to the funny farm.
Bosch Likely To Slash Platinum In New Fuel Cells
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on Automotive News Europe.
This is the first paragraph.
Bosch expects platinum to play only a minor role in its new fuel cells, with the supplier only needing a tenth of the metal used in current fuel cell vehicles, Reuters estimates.
The amount will be similar to that in the average catalytic converter, which must surely be a good thing.
Bosch are in a joint venture with Swedish fuel cell maker, Powercell
£100m Train Test Complex Plans For Neath Valley Backed
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on the BBC.
This much-needed project, which some wag has called Project Hornby, seems to be moving on..
This brief description is from the article.
The complex would allow trains to be tested on special tracks – laid out on 4.5 mile (7.3km) and two mile (3.1km) ovals – at speeds of up to 100mph (160kph).
It will certainly test their ability to go round corners.
Hopefully, the test track will shorten the time, it takes new and updated trains into service.
Vivarail And Arcola Announce Partnership To Bring Emission-Free Trains To The UK
The title of this post is the same as this press release from Vivarail.
These are the first two paragraphs
Vivarail, designers and manufacturers of the Class 230 trains, and hydrogen fuel cell specialists Arcola Energy today announced a long-term collaboration.
The companies share a determination to help de-carbonise the UK’s transport system. Vivarail has already designed and run an emission-free battery train whilst Arcola lead the market in supplying power systems for efficient fuel cell electric vehicles, primarily buses, to the UK. Working together the companies will develop a hydrogen/battery hybrid train.
It strikes me that this could be a good fit.
Powering A Bus
In New Facility To Power Liverpool’s Buses With Hydrogen, I described Arcola Energy’s involvement in a project to create and fuel hydrogen-powered buses in conjunction with Alexander Dennis.
- A typical hybrid double-decker bus like a New Routemaster has a battery capacity of 55 kWh.
- If these Liverpool hydrogen-powered double-decker buses have serial hybrid transmission like the New Routemaster, I could envisage them having a battery of up to 100 kWh, as let’s face it, the New Routemaster design is now eight years old and battery technology has moved on.
So the Arcola Energy-sourced fuel cell must be able to continuously top-up, the battery, in the same manner as the diesel engine on a hybrid bus.
Sit in the back of a New Routemaster and you can hear the engine cutting in and out. It doesn’t seem to work very hard, even on routes like the 73, which operate at high loadings.
Powering A Class 230 Train
Vivarail’s battery-powered Class 230 train, has a battery capacity of 106 kWh.
This size of battery could certainly be changed by a hydrogen fuel cell.
But could a hydrogen fuel cell provide enough power to keep the train running?
- Vivarail are clamming a range of fifty miles, which means that their two-car battery trains are consuming around 2 kWh for every mile.
- I will assume the train is travelling at its operating speed of sixty mph, which is a mile every minute.
- To keep the battery topped up would need 2 kWh to be produced every minute.
A hydrogen fuel cell with a rating of 120 kW would be needed to power the train continuously. But as the fuel cell would only be topping up the battery, I suspect that a smaller fuel cell would be sufficient.
The Ballard fuel cell is a HD variant of their FCveloCity family.
This page on the Ballard web site is the data sheet of an HD fuel cell of their FCveloCity family.
- The fuel cells come in three sizes 60, 85 and 100 kW
- The largest fuel cell would appear to be around 1.2 m x 1 m x 0.5 m and weigh around 400 Kg.
- The fuel cell has an associated cooling subsystem, that can provide heat for the train.
This Ballard fuel cell would appear to be capable of mounting under the floor of a train.
There are probably several other fuel cells that will fit the Class 230 train.
Arcola should know the best hydrogen fuel cell for the application, in terms of size, power and cost.
The Concept Train
Vivarail’s press release describes a concept train.
The concept train will be used to demonstrate the system capability and test performance. Vivarail’s production hydrogen trains will consist of 4-cars, with 2 battery driving motor cars and 2 intermediate cars housing the fuel cell and tanks.
Vivarail seem very certain of the formation of production trains.
I am not surprised at this certaincy.
- The mathematics of battery-powered and hydrogen-powered trains is well known.
- Vivarail have experience of running their battery-powered prototype.
- Arcola have experience of the capabilities of hydrogen-power.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some commonality between the Alexander Dennis and Vivarail installations.
Range Of A Hydrogen-Powered Class 230 Train
Nothing is said in Vivarail’s press release about the range on hydrogen.
In Hydrogen Trains Ready To Steam Ahead, I examined Alstom’s Class 321 Breeze hydrogen train, based on an article in The Times.
I said this about range.
The Times gives the range of the train as in excess of 625 miles
The Class 321 Breeze looks to be designed for longer routes than the Class 230 train.
I would suspect that a hydrogen-powered Class 230 train would have the range to do a typical day’s work without refuelling.
Refuelling A Hydrogen-Powered Class 230 Train
I don’t think this will be a problem as Arcola appear to have the expertise to provide a complete solution.
Conclusion
This is a co-operation, where both parties are bringing strengths to the venture.
Is Cambridge Going To Save The World From Global Warming?
Watch this video!
And then visit Superdielectrics web site.
It does appear to be a bunch of mad scientists in Cambridge, who’ve come up with the bizarre idea of using the material in soft contact lenses as an energy storage medium.
Link Up With Rolls-Royce
And then there’s this press release on the Rolls-Royce-Royce web site, which is entitled Rolls-Royce Links Up With UK-based Superdielectrics To Explore Potential Of Very High Energy Storage Technology.
Conclusion
I have been observing technology since the 1960s.
This is either one of those scientific curiosities , like cold fusion, that appear from time-to-time and then disappear into the scientific archives or become a game-changer.
I suspect we’ll know in a couple of years.
But even if it is isn’t the solution to affordable and massive energy storage,, that will save the world, I believe that one of the teams of men and women in white coats, somewhere in the world will crack the problem.
Rugby Goal-Light Technology Trial At Principality Stadium
The title of this post is the same as that on this article on the BBC.
This is the first paragraph.
New technology to light up rugby posts in different colours to show whether a kick is successful was trialled at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.
Although, I’m not registered blind, I do have problems with spotting movement in certain light conditions and at certain angles.
If I regularly went to rugby, these lights could improve my experience.
They are a good idea.
What puzzles me, is that the post says they could be used in American Football.
You’d have thought that the Americans would have already done it, but obviously they haven’t!
Is This Stadler’s Plan For A Multi-Mode Future?
We have not seen any of Stadler’s bi-mode Flirts in service yet although Greater Anglia’a Class 755 trains have been rumoured to be speeding between London and Norwich in ninety minutes from this May!
Today, I rode on one of Stadler’s diesel GTWs between Groningen and Eemshaven in the Netherlands, which I wrote about in The Train Station At The Northern End Of The Netherlands.
GTWs are a diesel electric train with a power-pack car in the middle of the three car train. The diesel electric Flirts are a later train with a similar layout to the GTW.
So are the diesel GTWs and Flirts just a bi-mode without a pantograph? Or more likely the bi-mode is a diesel electric train with the addition of a pantograph and extra electrical gubbins.
Looking at the visualisations on Wikipedia of the bi-mode Class 755 train and the all-electric Class 745 train, it appears that the next-to-end car has the pantograph.
Are these cars with the pantograph identical on both the bi-mode and the all-electric versions? It would certainly be sensible from a engine erring point of view.
So could it be that all that is needed to convert a diesel electric Flirt into a bi-mode Flirt is to add the pantograph car and swap the power pack car for a bi-mode one? The old power pack car could then be converted into another bi-mode power pack car to convert another train.
But the power pack cars are not as simple as they look. They have four slots for diesel engines. Three-car and four-car Class 755 trains have two and four engines respectively.
I believe that one or more of the slots can be filled with a battery to create Flirts like the tri-mode ones proposed for South Wales.
So could we see some of the Greater Anglia Flirts converted in this way? Surely, Colchester Town to Sudbury could be a service that could benefit from battery power West of Marks Tey?
Today, I had a chat with a GTW driver, who said that the train he’d been driving was diesel-electric and that he had heard that batteries or hydrogen power could be used on the eoute.
The lines around Groningen seem to employ quite a few GTWs and distances are not overly long. So could some be converted to 1500 VDC electric/diesel/battery tri-modes? There is electrification at Groningen station and some of the bay platforms used by GTWs already have wires.
If the conversion is successful, then Stadler could be on a Swiss roll, as there are a lot of GTWs and Flirts out there, many of which are diesel-electric, like the one I rode today.
Would a train operator prefer to upgrade a diesel electric train that works well or buy a new bi-mode from another train manufacturer?
Could also an electric Flirt be converted into a bi-mode, by splitting the train and sticking a power pack car in the middle. Engineering common sense says that the passenger cars must be very similar to those of diesel Flirts to simplify manufacture of the trains.
We already know, that four-car Flirts are only three-car trains with an extra passenger car. Stadler could mix-and-match passenger, pantograph and power pack cars to give operators what they need.
Intelligent computer software would choose which power option to be used and the driver would just monitor, that the train was behaving as needed.
Looking at my route yesterday between Groningen and Eemshaven, it is a route of just under forty kilometres or twenty-five miles. Adrian Shooter is talking of ranges of sixty miles with battery versions of Class 230 trains. So I don’t find it impossible to create a tri-mode GTW or Flirt for this lonely route at the very North of the Netherlands.
Conclusion
Stadler seem to have created a very imitative modular train concept.
As some Flirts can travel at 125 mph, could they be serious bidders to provide the new trains for the Midland Main Line?
Vivarail Unveils Fast Charging System For Class 230 Battery Trains
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Technology.
A few points from the article.
- Class 230 trains running on battery power have a range of sixty miles.
- Fully charging the train takes seven minutes.
- Short lengths of third and fourth-rail are used.
- Power is provided from a battery bank, which is trickle charged.
I feel this paragraph describes the key feature.
The automatic technique utilises a carbon ceramic shoe, which is capable of withstanding the significant amount of heat generated during the process.
The article finishes with a quote from Vivarail CEO Adrian Shooter.
I know how important it is to the public and the industry as a whole to phase out diesel units and our battery train is paving the way for that to take place today not tomorrow.
Consider.
- Alstom, Bombardier, Siemens and Stadler have built or are building third-rail powered trains for the UK.
- Bombardier, Porterbrook and Stadler are developing battery-powered trains for the UK.
- Trickle-charging of the secondary batteries could be performed by mains power or a local renewable source like wind or solar.
- Control electronics can make this a very safe system, with low risk of anybody being hurt from the electrical systems.
I’ve said it before, but I think that Vivarail may have some very important technology here.
If I have a worry, it is that unscrupulous companies and countries will probably find a way round any patent.
The Anonymous Widower 