COP26 launch for ‘next generation’ battery train
Daily services planned for Vivarail unit during climate change conference in Glasgow.
THE launch of Vivarail’s latest battery train in Glasgow has been timed to coincide with the city hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
The unit, which was still to be unveiled as The RM went to press, has a range of up to 80 miles and can recharge in 10 minutes using the company’s patented Fast Charge system. It will operate daily services throughout the 26th Conference of the Parties (otherwise known as COP26), taking place from October 31November 12.
Vivarail says the use of the train will be themed around the conference agenda, with the aim of explaining how rail fits into the wider concept of sustainable transport and can enable modal shift. The services are being run in partnership with Network Rail, with support from SLC Operations, Alstom and VTG.
Further plans
Network Rail and leasing firm Porterbrook have also arranged for a hydrogen-powered unit to feature at a COP26 fringe event to give guests, including leaders and climate experts, an insight into the potential for alternatively-fuelled trains.
Specialising in developing variants of the Class 230 unit, which utilise bodyshells and bogies from former London Underground D78 trains, Vivarail demonstrated its first battery train, No. 230002, to the public at the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway in October 2018. The train’s driving vehicles were exported to the United States earlier this year for use by Pop-Up Metro to demonstrate the potential of battery-powered trains to operate shuttle services to and from city centres.
The final stage of the Network Rail approval process for Fast Charge will begin with a live trial on the West Ealing to Greenford branch in early 2022. It follows a tendering process launched by Great Western Railway seeking the lease of a train and charging equipment (to be installed in the bay platform at West Ealing) for a period in service of onethree years.