Green scheme funding

FIVE projects have received funding of £350,000 each from the Department for Transport’s First of a Kind competition, which seeks schemes that can reduce the railway’s carbon footprint.

Porterbrook’s Green Rail Exhaust After Treatment project will transfer a road-based system developed by Eminox to rail vehicles.

A South Western Railway Class 158 diesel multiple unit will be fitted with the system, which will be evaluated using onboard telemetry.

Unipart Rail is to deploy a commercial version of a digital displacement pump for the first time - it promises to cut fuel consumption on trains by reducing part-load losses incurred by traditional hydraulic pumps.

Vortex’s Diesel Freight Carbon Reduction Technology will entail the fitting of a new exhaust to a Class 66 diesel, which promises to improve the efficiency of combustion in an engine’s cylinders. A trial in a Class 156 diesel multiple unit resulted in a 13.2% reduction in fuel consumption.

Assuming success, Unipart Rail will commercialise the new exhaust design, which is planned for rollout to the market within a year of the project’s completion.

Riding Sunbeams plans to develop solar farms alongside electrified railways, to help power trains. It claims to be the first company in the world to connect solar generation directly into rail traction networks.

Steamology Motion, the final recipient, aims to create a new zero-emissions powertrain for a Vivarail Class 230 train. The W2W system generates steam from compressed hydrogen and oxygen stored in tanks. The steam then drives a turbine to generate electricity.

The concept is aimed at being a ‘range extender’ able to charge onboard battery packs.

Renewable energy is then used to electrolyse the water back into hydrogen and oxygen, and store it back in the tanks.

Rail Minister Andrew Jones said: “We want a cleaner, greener rail network and transforming our trains will help make this a reality. The targets we set for 2040 are ambitious, but are within our reach.

“It is encouraging to see the huge efforts already under way to make this happen. This funding will be vital in helping these fantastic projects adapt to the demands of rail and enable their potential rollout, delivering a cleaner, healthier network for passengers.

“It also underlines the shared commitment of government and industry to ensuring we have a modern railway that protects our environment.”