1. History

2. Supercapacitors

3. By country
    Austria  Germany  Ireland  Japan  NE Train Smart Denchi-kun  EV-E301 series  BEC819 series  EV-E801 series  New Zealand  United Kingdom  Class 230  United States 

4. See also

5. References

A battery electric multiple unit, battery electric railcar or accumulator railcar is an electrically driven multiple unit or railcar whose energy is derived from rechargeable batteries that drive its traction motors.

The main advantage of these vehicles is that they do not use fossil fuels like coal or diesel fuel, emit no exhaust gases and do not require the railway to have expensive infrastructure like electric ground rails or overhead catenary. On the down side is the weight of the batteries, which raises the vehicle weight, and their range before recharging of between {{convert|300 and 600|km|mi|0}}. Currently, battery electric units have a higher purchase price and running cost than petrol or diesel railcars, needing one or more charging stations along the routes they operate.

Battery technology has greatly improved over the past 20 years broadening the scope of use of battery trains, moving away from limited niche applications. Despite higher purchase and running costs, on certain railway lines battery trains are economically viable as the very high cost and maintenance of full line electrification is eliminated. From March 2014 passenger battery trains have been in operation in Japan on a number of lines. Austria and New Zealand have ordered overhead wire/battery trains which will be operational in 2019.^[1][2] Britain successfully trialled fare paying passenger hybrid overhead wire/lithium battery trains in January and February 2015.^[3]

History

Experiments with accumulator railcars, as they were originally called, were conducted from around 1890 in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy. In the USA, railcars of the Edison-Beach type, with nickel-iron batteries were used from 1911. In New Zealand, a battery-electric Edison railcar operated from 1926 to 1934. The Drumm nickel-zinc battery was used on four 2-car sets between 1932 and 1946 on the Harcourt Street Line in Ireland and British Railways used lead-acid batteries in a railcar in 1958. Between 1955 and 1995 Deutsche Bahn railways successfully operated 232 DB Class ETA 150 railcars utilising lead-acid batteries.

Supercapacitors

A number of tramway manufacturers are offering battery tramcars that combine the traction battery with a supercapacitor that will be charged at each stop. The main motivation for the usage of battery-powered tramways is to avoid overhead wires across a city. Using boost charging at each stop allows to lower the size of the required traction battery. This technology is hoped to be transferred to full trains.

The CAF Urbos 3 tramways was ordered for the Seville metro with the Acumulador de Carga Rápida system which uses short overhead wires at each stop for charging. The Seville trams have been operating since Easter 2011.^[4]

Siemens three car trams are to be used for Education City in Doha, the capital of Qatar.^[5][6] The opening was scheduled for autumn 2015^[6] but has been delayed until 2019.^[5] No overhead wires will be installed, as the 10 Avenio trams will be powered by the Siemens Sitras HES system (Hybrid Energy Storage), a combination of a supercapacitor and a traction battery that will be charged at each stop through an overhead conductor rail.^[6][7][8]

A Combino tramway using four car tramsets equipped with the Sitras HES system has been in regular service from Almada to Seixal, Portugal, since November 2008. It is capable of running up to distances of 2,500 metres without overhead wires.^[9][10]

The 20.3km Huai'an tram line in China, opened in February 2016. The line is entirely catenary-free utilising battery-powered trams supplied by CRRC Zhuzhou which recharge at tram stops.^[11]

By country

Austria

The Austrian Federal Railways has purchased at a cost of $1.9 billion 300 Bombardier Talent 3 trains,^[12] the battery/electric version of the Talent 2 equipped to operate with batteries and overhead wires. The trains are to be used on regional and suburban rail on electrified and unelectrified track. The services are to commence in 2019.^[13]

Germany

In 1887 the first German accumulator railcars were placed in service by the Royal Bavarian State Railways. Their development continued with the pre-Second World War classes ETA 177 to 180, the post-war DB Class ETA 176 (later 517) and finally ended with DB Class ETA 150 (later 515). The latter were used until 1995 having been since modernised into the Nokia ETA, painted light grey and green and deployed onto the so-called Nokia Railway (timetable number RB 46), nowadays the Glückauf-Bahn from Gelsenkirchen via Wanne-Eickel to Bochum.

Ireland

In the 1930s and 1940s, four battery electric trains ran successfully between Dublin and Bray. The train's batteries were charged at each terminus via an overhead pickup. The train reached 60 mph.

Japan

NE Train Smart Denchi-kun

In Japan, JR East tested a "NE Train Smart Denchi-kun" battery electric railcar from 2009. This vehicle is capable of operating under 1,500 V DC overhead wires or on battery power alone for a distance of up to 50 km away from an overhead power supply.^[15] The batteries are charged via the pantograph either when running under an overhead electric supply or at a specially built recharging facility.^[15][16]

EV-E301 series

From March 2014, a two-car battery electric multiple unit, the EV-E301 series with 1,500 V DC overhead wire and battery power capability, entered revenue-earning service on the {{Convert|20|km|abbr=on}} long non-electrified Karasuyama Line.^[17]

BEC819 series

From April 2016, JR Kyushu started trial operation of a two-car BEC819 series BEMU train, nicknamed "DENCHA", on part of the Chikuhō Main Line, with revenue-earning service scheduled from October of the same year, and six more trains planned to be introduced on the line in spring 2017.^[18] It can also be powered via overhead AC power line. The BEC819 series battery/electric trains became operational on the through services on the Fukuhoku Yutaka Line in October 2016, which is electrified at 20 kV AC and the non-electrified Chikuhō Main Line, known as the "Wakamatsu Line", between Orio and Wakamatsu.^[19]

EV-E801 series

A new EV-E801 series two-car BEMU train was introduced on the {{Convert|26.6|km|abbr=on}} long non-electrified Oga Line in Akita Prefecture in March 2017. This differs from the earlier EV-E301 series train in being recharged from a 20 kV AC overhead supply instead of a 1,500 V DC overhead supply.^[20]

New Zealand

Auckland Council has purchased 17 battery/electric trains from CAF in Spain, to operate between Britomart and Pukekohe. From Britomart the trains will operate on electric overhead wires to Papakura. From Papakura the trains will switch to battery mode for the journey to Pukekohe. Operation is to start in 2019.^[21]

United Kingdom

Battery electric railcars used by British Rail included the British Rail BEMU and British Rail Class 419. The Class 419, operational from 1959 to 2004 could run either on batteries or a third rail being used for short unelectrified section on quaysides.

In 2015 a single Class 379 Electrostar, after electric lithium batteries were installed, began passenger operations on the Mayflower Line in Essex. The train can travel up to {{Convert|60|mi|km}} on energy stored in the batteries also recharging the batteries via the overhead-wires when on electrified sections of the line, at stations and via brake regeneration. The trial lasted one month from January to February.^[22] Network Rail refer to this prototype model and its possible future descendants as Independently Powered Electric Multiple Units (IPEMU).^[23]

A month after the trial in March 2015, the introduction of battery-powered trains was proposed by Network Rail for consideration for the fifteen station Wrexham to Bidston, Birkenhead, Borderlands Line.^[24]  The aim is to connect the line onto the electric 3rd rail Merseyrail Wirral Line and extend into the underground section of Liverpool's city centre. The line is diesel train operated unable to progress into the electric 3rd rail underground Birkenhead and Liverpool Merseyrail tunnels. The diesel operated line terminates at Bidston railway station in Birkenhead, with passengers having to change trains at Bidston to proceed onto the Merseyrail electric network. Network Rail proposed using dual battery powered/3rd rail pickup rolling stock without full electrification of the 27 mile long line, providing a cheaper method of increasing connectivity into the electrified underground sections of the Birkenhead and Liverpool Merseyrail Wirral Line. If battery trains are introduced the Borderlands line will be incorporated into the Wirral Line becoming an urban metro line, in which trains only terminate at Wrexham running around the electrified Liverpool city centre underground tunnels in a loop.

Mark Carne of Network Rail in March 2017 stated: "The idea that you need to electrify an entire route is no longer necessarily the case. I think that where we have got hybrid trains, that opens up quite a lot of interesting opportunities for partial electrification." Carne also stated: "technology was advancing at such a pace that better reliability could be achieved without the construction of unsightly overhead cables." He added that developments in batteries are such that it might soon be cost-effective to swap diesel engines for battery or hybrid devices, therefore saving the vast cost of installing power lines above every section of track.^[25]

On page 37 of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Long Term Rail Strategy document of October 2017, it states that in 2020 a trial of new class 777 Merseyrail electric 3rd rail/battery trains will be undertaken in view to incorporate two stretches of unelectrified track onto the Merseyrail network. The sections are on the Wirral Line from Ellesmere Port to Helsby interchange station and the Northern Line from Ormskirk to Preston interchange station.^[26]

Class 230

Vivarail is the first company to manufacture battery electric trains in the UK in the modern era.{{cn|reason=Only one demonstrator battery unit produced so far, modern is an imprecise term and arguably the class 379 conversion might qualify as the first|date=March 2018}} Their Class 230 is converted from redundant London Underground D-Stock trains and the second demonstrator unit, the two-car 230002, has been fitted for battery power in contrast to the diesel-electric power of the earlier 230001 demonstrator unit. Vivarail claim that a ten-minute charge gives a range of 50 miles. Power is provided by two lithium-ion batteries per car giving four per train, providing 106kWh, with an expected life of seven years for the batteries. The train is due to run on the national network in summer 2018.^[27]

In 2017, Vivarail battery trains were being considered for use on the Valley Lines network in South Wales. The trains would be battery powered, capable of being recharged via 25 kV OHLE.^[28]

United States

The Edison-Beach battery railcar was developed by Thomas Edison and Ralph H. Beach. The latter headed the Railway Storage Battery Car Company and the Electric Car & Locomotive Corp.^[29] Car No. 105 of the Alaska Railroad was an Edison-Beach car,^[30] and examples operated on the Central Vermont Railway running between Millers Falls, Northfield and West Townshend. ^[31] A notable feature of the Edison-Beach cars was the Beach drive system. Each wheel was mounted on ball bearings on a dead axle and was driven by an individual traction motor through gearing.^[32]

See also

• Electric multiple unit
• Diesel multiple unit
• Battery locomotive
• Electric vehicle battery
• Flywheel energy storage

References

• Mahendra Soni
• Mahendra-varman I
• Mahendra Varman I
• Mahendra-varman II
• Mahendra Varman II
• Mahendravarman (Varman dynasty)
• Mahendra Varsani
• Mahendrawada
• Mahenes
• Mahenes demelti
• Mahenes semifasciatus
• Mahenjodaro
• Mahenoides
• Mahenoides pauliani
• Mahensia seychellarum
• Mahe, Puducherry
• Maher Abd al-Rashid
• Maher Abu Remeleh
• Maher Abu Rmilah
• Mahe railway station
• Maher al-Hashlamun
• Maher Al Sayed
• Maher Assad
• Maher Atta
• Maher Aziza