Vivarail has launched a fast-charge system for the Class 230 battery trains – the UK’s only battery train with a range of 60 miles between charges.
The demonstration marked the conclusion of a 12-month project supported by a grant from the Accelerating Innovation in Rail 4 competition, funded by the Department for Transport and delivered by Innovate UK.
Vivarail is the only UK company with an operational battery train with a range of 60 or more miles between charges and the accompanying charging system. The combination of the train and the new charging system provide owners and operators a working emission-free train.
The development of the accompanying fast-charging system means the trains have an extremely wide application across the country. The system comprises short sections of third and fourth rail which connect to the train via shoegear. The train pulls to a stop at the terminus and the shoegear connects to the rail to draw the current at an extremely high rate which is crucial as it ensures the train continues to meet timetabling demands.
Due to the high currents required for the train, Vivarail uses a carbon ceramic shoe able to withstand the heat generated in the process – without this shoe the charge time would make operational running unfeasible.
Charge times can be as little as seven minutes and the range of over 60 miles between charges gives operators a wide choice of potential lines to run zero emission trains.
Unlike electrified trains, a battery train needs to draw a lot of power in a short space of time which can cause problems with the electrical supply. To overcome this Vivarail completed the suite of equipment with a battery bank. This consists of packaged second-use batteries and is connected to the main grid to trickle charge itself continuously. It is the power stored in the battery bank that is then ‘dumped’ into the train in the short time available.