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New funding to decarbonise railway traction

Energy World; 04/02/2019

Research into cutting the carbon footprint of the UK’s railways has accelerated with new government support for five projects to study hydrogen, solar and battery hybrid power for train propulsion.

Rail Minister Andrew Jones announced that the projects have been chosen for development funding in the second round of the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) First of a Kind (FOAK) competition that focuses on schemes to cut carbon emissions from the railways. The five decarbonisation projects will each receive £350,000.

The initiative is a part of the government’s Industrial Strategy. It comes as rail industry leaders publish the interim Rail Industry Decarbonisation Taskforce report addressing the challenge set by the DfT last year for cutting emissions and removing diesel-only trains from the network by 2040.

The taskforce report, authored by former Angel Trains CEO Malcolm Brown, concludes that the removal of diesel-only passenger trains can be achieved by 2040, and outlines aims for further investment on a range of alternatives including bi-modes, hydrogen and battery trains.

But the report stresses the high efficiency with which it uses both its principal traction modes: electricity and diesel, and the barrier this sets to efforts to introduce low-cost and low-carbon alternatives. Care must be taken when seeking alternatives, it says, to avoid unintended consequences such as an artificial imbalance between the costs of rail freight and road haulage.

Among the priority lines for potential battery hybrid trains will be the Lakes Line in Cumbria. The DfT says that train operator Northern will shortly submit a business plan for it to benefit from this technology.

Manufacturer Alstom, engineering company Viva Rail, and rolling stock owners Angel Trains and Porterbrook are also developing a range of alternatively-fuelled trains for the UK network, including battery hybrids and hydrogen powered units, adds the DfT.

Alstom and Eversholt Rail have unveiled the design of a new hydrogen train for the UK market. The train, codenamed Breeze, will be a conversion of existing Class 321 trains, could run across the UK as early as 2022, emitting only water, says Alstom.

If the project goes ahead – Alstom and partners are developing the business case for introducing a fleet of trains and the associated refuelling infrastructure – Alstom’s facility in Widnes will manage the conversion of the Breeze trains. The news follows the introduction in September of Alstom hydrogen trains in Germany, where they now operate in regular passenger service on a daily basis.

News Item details

Journal title: Energy World

Countries: UK -

Organisation: Department for Transport

Subjects: Research and development, Funding, Public transport, Decarbonisation