The
long-running

battery
train
project
on
Great
Western
Railway
is
set
to
move
forward
this
spring,
when
trial
operation
begins
on
a
branch
line
in
west
London.

GWR
took
over
the
development
of
battery
units
based
on
former
London
Underground
trains
when
their
innovator
Vivarail
went
into
administration
at
the
end
of
2022.

Vivarail
had
been
demonstrating
the
converted
units
for
several
years
at
its
Warwickshire
site.
When
the
company
failed
GWR
bought
rolling
stock
and
test
equipment,
and
also
employed
some
specialist
staff
who
had
been
working
at
Vivarail.

The
tests
on
the
Greenford
branch
will
involve
a
short
length
of
conductor
rail
at
West
Ealing
station
which
is
used
to
charge
the
batteries
and
is
only
live
when
a
train
is
over
it.

The
technology
is
dubbed
FastCharge,
because
only
3.5
minutes
is
needed
to
recharge
the
batteries
with
up
to
2000kW.

Conductor
rails
and
lineside
battery
banks
have
been
installed
at
West
Ealing
in
preparation
for
the
start
of
the
trials,
which
will
not
include
operation
in
public
service
for
now.

GWR
engineering
director
Dr
Simon
Green
said:
‘This
work
has
never
been
done
before
and
we’re
leading
the
way
to
help
the
Department
for
Transport
and
Network
Rail
understand
what
is
required
to
roll
out
this
technology.

‘Only
now
has
there
been
a
combination
of
battery
capability
and
charging
technology
that
enables
a
branch
line
train
to
operate
to
the
same
timetable
as
a
diesel
unit,
and
yet
still
charge
safely
and
with
minimal
impact
on
the
local
grid
power
supply.

‘Our
specialist
engineering
team
have
been
working
round-the-clock
to
ensure
that
this
FastCharge
system
has
been
fully
tested
and
that
there
will
be
sufficient
charge
for
the
train
to
operate
to
the
timetable
on
the
Greenford
branch.

‘Each
branch
line
will
vary
but
this
is
an
incredibly
exciting
innovation
and
I’m
proud
that
GWR
is
at
the
forefront
of
the
railway’s
commitment
to
phase
out
diesel-only
traction
by
2040.’

Battery
powered
trains
have
been
tried
out
from
time
to
time
ever
since
the
nineteenth
century,
and
British
Railways
experimented
with
the
technology
on
the
Ballater
branch
in
Scotland
between
1958
and
1966,
using
lead
acid
batteries.

More
recently,
passengers
were
carried
for
several
weeks
on
the
Manningtree
to
Harwich
Town
line
in
Essex
in
early
2015,
using
an
adapted
Bombardier
Class
379
unit.
The
branch
is
electrified,
and
the
experimental
unit
recharged
its
battery
rafts
from
the
25kV
overhead.

Battery
trains
supplied
by
Stadler
last
year
are
being
used
on
Merseyrail,
to
bridge
the
non-electrified
section
between
Kirkby
and
the
new
station
at
Headbolt
Lane.