Alstom has won a contract to provide a charging facility for Irish Rail’s first modern battery train fleet.

The new Battery Electric Multiple Unit (BEMU) trains will operate between Drogheda, Dublin City Centre and beyond. Drogheda is an industrial and port town in County Louth on Ireland‘s east coast, lying 56 kilometres north of caputal city Dublin.

Alstom will install the charging infrastructure on two platforms and one siding at Drogheda by the end of next year. This will enable new battery-electric DART+ trains to enter service to and from Drogheda in 2025, before the planned electrification of the line, and to be recharged while they turn around at Drogheda.

The charging equipment includes a medium voltage connection to Ireland’s electricity network operator (ESB) and a traction substation which converts electricity to the voltage suitable for charging the trains’ on-board batteries, which will be done through an overhead rigid catenary system and pantographs.

The substation’s energy storage element will enable integration with the ESB network and improve the availability of the charging system. The substation will supply a controlled current to trains stabled on Drogheda station’s platform.

The ten-year framework agreement signed by Alstom and Irish Rail provides for up to 750 new X’trapolis commuter rail cars for Ireland’s DART network, with definite orders for 37 five-car X’trapolis trains including a support services contract for fifteen year. Thirty-one of the trains that have been ordered are battery-electric multiple units (BEMUs) and six are electric multiple units.

The new trains will provide more capacity and will also help with decarbonisation, to the benefit of the local community of Greater Dublin.

DART+ is a programme to double the capacity and treble the electrification of the Greater Dublin Area rail network, aiming to improve quality of life in Ireland’s capital and the surrounding counties by making public transport easier and more sustainable. It is funded by the National Transport Authority, through its National Development Plan.

Piers Wood, Managing Director of Alstom in Ireland, said, “Alstom is pleased to partner with Irish Rail in delivering the new state-of-the-art BEMU’s charging facility. Projects such as this will deliver social and economic benefits to Irish Rail passengers and Alstom is proud to be playing a part in the first project of its kind in Ireland and the UK.

Jim Made, CEO of Irish Rail (IE), said,“This investment will allow us to accelerate the benefits of DART+ to customers on the Drogheda commuter route, with a brand-new fleet and extra capacity to be provided in just two years’ time.”