Network Rail begins on-track trials of first battery-powered train in UK

Network Rail has started trials of its first battery-powered train on a test track in Derby, UK, after completing the retrofitting of the unit. The on-track trials will culminate into a series of high-speed tests at the Rail Innovation and Development Centre (RIDC) in Nottinghamshire at the end of the year. The project was co-funded by Network Rail and its industry partners Bombardier, Abellio Greater Anglia, FutureRailway and the UK Department for Transport.

[pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”56%”]Although we have retrofitted the Abellio Greater Anglia Class 379 unit with lithium-iron magnesium batteries, we continue to test other possible solutions so we can gather as much information and comparison data as possible for future development.[/pullquote]

Six battery rafts were installed on an Abellio Greater Anglia Class 379 unit at Bombardier’s facility Derby. The battery rafts equipped to the train unit comprise a battery box, an isolation switch, a powerdistribution control panel, a battery charging inverter, batteries and a battery monitoring system, all mounted within a bespoke, purpose-built rig.

“Over the next five years, Network Rail has a target to reduce the cost of running UK’s railway network by a further 20%. At the same time, we are always looking for ways to make the railway greener too. This project has the potential to contribute significantly towards both those goals.”– James Ambrose, project senior engineer, Network Rail

Network Rail’s electrification strategy

This project is an important part of our strategy of increasing the electrification of the railway, delivering improved sustainability whilst reducing the burden on the taxpayer. If we can create an energy storage capability for trains, electric traction can be introduced to more parts of the railway without the need to necessarily extend the electrification infrastructure.

“As the principle funder and delivery manager, we have done a great deal of feasibility work before reaching this stage, both to define the outputs we seek from the trial and to build confidence in the project across the industry. We are working with our partners to drive this innovation forward.
– Richard Eccles, Network Rail director of network strategy and planning
Class 379. Photo: Bombardier.

Class 379. Photo: Bombardier.

Jon Fold von Bülow

Jon Fold von Bülow recieved his Cand. Scient. in Nanoscience from University of Copenhagen in 2011 and is currently working with upscaling Li- and Na-ion battery materials to the 100+ kg scale for Haldor Topsøe A/S.

Jon's main interest lies in energy technologies for the future and he started working with fusion energy at Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy. He has since developed a growing interest in technologies that are closer to potential industrial application. He is a highly dedicated academic as well as a very active professional and have initiated and participated in many different projects.

His studies within nanotechnological material science and affiliation with Risø National Laboratories has taken him to Germany, China and the US, where he has collaborated independently with several international research groups. He has so far succeeded in pushing two academic projects to industrial application, first with the Danish company Coloplast A/S and recently with a California-based battery start-up – an invention that is currently being US patented.

Jon has conducted most of his work on Li-batteries in the facilities of California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) as a research scholar at UCSB-MIT-Caltech Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB). The manganese based cathode materials he fabricated during this period were all tuned for high-power applications and covers synthesis of various manganese oxides from solution, molten and solid states.

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