As of last Sunday, December 15th, 31 Mireo Plus B trains, built using state-of-the-art battery technology, have begun running in the Brandenburg metropolitan region of Berlin, Germany.
These trains are cousins to the British Desiro Verve trains, which are currently on order with Siemens and due to be assembled in the UK in Goole at the recently opened Siemens Mobility’s Train Manufacturing Facility.
This type of Battery technology made its debut in April when the first of 27 trains were tested in the Ortenau region of Germany.
The Mireo Plus B and Desiro Verve trains use the same technology for running off battery power, though the main difference between these two classes of trains is how their batteries are charged.
The British trains (Desiro Verve) will be able to run using overhead wires which will also charge the train’s batteries, and would switch to battery power in areas without wires.
This would enable smaller sections of routes or specific stations would still need to be electrified with overhead line equipment (OLE), to ensure that batteries can still be topped up or charged, especially on longer journeys that involve a train travelling over a non-electrified route.
This option is less disruptive when it comes to the replacement of diesel compared to the full electrification, of non-electrified lines.
Instead of taking the best part of 7 years or more to install full overhead line equipment along a non-electrified line, only a smaller section, or sections of line would need to have wires installed, which would take as little as 18 months to install.
This is due to advancing technology which now means it is possible to plug overhead lines directly into the domestic grid with the use of a Rail Charging Converter (RCC).
As the UK prepares to replace its diesel trains, the successful deployment of Siemens Mobility battery trains in Europe heralds a promising diesel-free future for Britain.
The introduction of Desiro Verve battery bi-mode trains on UK tracks would facilitate cleaner, more reliable and sustainable rail travel.
Back in June, Siemens Mobility revealed that the Desiro Verve could potentially save Britain’s railways £3.5 billion over a span of 35 years when compared to using tri-mode diesel-battery-electric trains. This initiative would align with the Government’s objective of eliminating diesel-only trains from Britain’s railways by 2040.
“It’s fantastic to see the innovative technology that will underpin our British Desiro Verve trains already being put into action. The completion of these latest journeys demonstrates that the technology for our British battery trains is here, is working and is ready to transform rail travel.
The Desiro Verve would be assembled at our state-of-the-art Goole Rail Village in Yorkshire and offers an integrated solution to replace Britain’s aging diesel trains without having to electrify hundreds of miles of track, saving the country £3.5 billion over 35 years and providing a practical path to decarbonising British railways.”
Sambit Banerjee, Joint CEO at Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland
Responses
You also got other train manufacturers ie-Alstom, Stadler, CAF and Hitachi that are also to upgrade existing newer trains and new trains to be built that would have batteries fitted. And to replace older diesel trains with eco-friendly hybrid/battery powered trains.
This is good. Hopefully, the development of battery operated trains/locomotives will negate the
need for anymore overhead catenary.
Seven years to erect overhead wires and electrify a route???
As I recall, when the GN suburban lines were electrified in the 1970’s, the work was completed in around 2-3 years.
How can 25kV overhead lines be plugged into domestic supplies? According to the article “it is possible to plug overhead lines directly into the domestic grid”
A quick Google brought up an article explaining what this entails:
Instead of the traditional method for delivering power upgrades that relied on a new connection being established with the National Grid’s central electricity distribution network, the SFC offered a new way to plug directly into the neighbouring domestic network that supplies power to lineside homes and businesses.
The SFC takes the local 132kV supply and passes it through digitally controlled power electronics to convert it to 25kV AC for use in overhead wires
I was thinking the same thing myself Ray, plus what do they do in power outages too? I think our country could find itself coming unstuck with regular power outages and the whole country grinding to a halt because the country simply can’t produce enough electricity to meet our needs.
We struggled last winter and had to power the coal fired power station that’s now closed, and that’s with only a tiny percentage of vehicles being electric,
it was said that if every vehicle on our roads were electric, we’d need 10 new nuclear power stations the size of Hinckley Point, just to be able produce enough electricity to meet the extra demand, so realistically, what hope do we have, of having enough power to power, transport, plus all our other needs for electricity?
Like a lot of things, sadly I think it hasn’t been properly thought out, and we’ll suffer as a result.
I personally don’t think electric is the future for everything, as we simply can’t produce enough of it, and believe that hydrogen should have been the fuel what they should have been investing in to replace diesel locos with, along with some road vehicles too.
But we shall wait and see what happens, Can’t see rail companies throwing away their bi-mode and Tri-mode Diesel-electric units anytime soon, as they’ve only just got them or are waiting for them to arrive, what a waste of money that would be if they retired them at only a few years old.