The Rise of Battery Trains

[searcher]

The Rise of Battery Trains​

• Japan pioneered battery-powered passenger trains, cutting thousands of tonnes of CO? since 2016.
• The UK is testing battery trains on intercity routes and metro lines, aiming for fast-charging systems to bridge gaps in electrification.
• U.S. startup Voltify is targeting freight rail with battery-powered “VoltCars,” estimating potential savings of $94 billion over 20 years.

As countries worldwide strive to undergo a green transition, one sector that many are finding challenging to decarbonise is transport. Shifting large-scale passenger transport away from fossil fuels to be powered by electricity, batteries, or green fuels is a complex endeavour. However, thanks to higher investment and recent innovations, we are getting ever closer to achieving green transport technology, such as battery-powered trains.

More:

The Rise of Battery Trains | OilPrice.com

Battery-powered trains are emerging worldwide as a viable alternative to diesel, offering cost savings and deep emissions cuts.

oilprice.com

 

[Casey Jones]

OMFG. This just shows that the Tech autistics, as well as other brain-damaged young people so excited about BATTERIES....they're just insane.

They don't work very well for cars - unless your commute is short and you have a home with a 240-volt hookup, and a fireproof garage. Which is essential.

They have been working for buses...until they don't. Battery-bus fires have been both common and spectacular.

WHY would they do this WITH TRAINS? TRAINS FOLLOW TRACKS. It's CHEAPER than dealing with all those battery packs, all that down charging time...JUST STRING OVERHEAD POWER WIRES OR A THIRD-RAIL ELECTRICAL POWER PICKUP.

We had electrified mainline service on many lines for decades, even to this day. Many lines found it was cheaper, easier, to just use diesels. But rather than costly batteries, expensive down-time to charge, short distances between charges...they could just string those wires, and buy electric locomotives.

I would expect that with the YUUGE size battery packs required, a Li-I fire on one of those things would be EPIC.

Woketard Buffet company BNSF was playing with battery locomotives. They bought a handful. Not even used a year, they're now at Larry's Truck & Electric, a locomotive scrapyard in Ohio.

 

[nickndfl]

 

[Bottom Feeder]

Sure, just load up 25 tons of batteries on yer train to run it.
What a SPLENDID idea!

 

[Voodoo]

OMFG. This just shows that the Tech autistics, as well as other brain-damaged young people so excited about BATTERIES....they're just insane.

They don't work very well for cars - unless your commute is short and you have a home with a 240-volt hookup, and a fireproof garage. Which is essential.

They have been working for buses...until they don't. Battery-bus fires have been both common and spectacular.

WHY would they do this WITH TRAINS? TRAINS FOLLOW TRACKS. It's CHEAPER than dealing with all those battery packs, all that down charging time...JUST STRING OVERHEAD POWER WIRES OR A THIRD-RAIL ELECTRICAL POWER PICKUP.

We had electrified mainline service on many lines for decades, even to this day. Many lines found it was cheaper, easier, to just use diesels. But rather than costly batteries, expensive down-time to charge, short distances between charges...they could just string those wires, and buy electric locomotives.

I would expect that with the YUUGE size battery packs required, a Li-I fire on one of those things would be EPIC.

Woketard Buffet company BNSF was playing with battery locomotives. They bought a handful. Not even used a year, they're now at Larry's Truck & Electric, a locomotive scrapyard in Ohio.

Agreed.... having said that at least it Could work. It's utterly flipping moronic to think batteries / electric semis could be a thing.

 

[nickndfl]

I wonder if they get too heavy for the bridges?

 

[Casey Jones]

I wonder if they get too heavy for the bridges?

There's standard axle-weight limits.

And there's restricted lines and bridges, with lower limits. These could be due to the bridge design or its state of repair, or it could be the weight of the rail. Railcar weights were a lot less, a century ago, and 132-lb (per-foot) rail only came out with larger hopper cars, carrying coal, grain and ore.

A lot of branch lines have lighter 98-pound or 75-pound rail, jointed, not welded...and modern locomotives cannot travel on them. A Canadian company has been making money for decades, rebuilding 50-year-old locomotives - GP-35s or 38s, MP1500s...the smaller ones with two-axle trucks. EMD came out with a GP-15 in the mid-1970s, for just that purpose, but that was at a time when railroads were regulation-choked and many, bankrupt.

On mainlines, if the battery block replaced the prime mover, it might only be a little heavier. But yes, weight would be the limiting factor.

Also limiting, would be "availability." If a battery CAR takes two hours to quick-charge, how much longer would a battery locomotive, with 20x the potential power?

ALSO...we KNOW these batteries have to be kept clean, cooled, dry. Railroads are sloppy on maintenance. You see those Eww Tube vids about "locomotives on fire"? Most of those are fires in the exhaust stacks - those huge engines have exhaust channels like HVAC ducts. A blown injector or turbocharger will result in unburned oil pumped out and dumped into the exhaust....during idle or light use, it just smokes. But take it on a grade at Notch 8, and the temperature rises, and the coked oil goes alight.

That's just one issue. There's legal requirements on lights, safety appliances like handrails, and lighted number boards; but nobody cares if the cab, or the engine bay, leaks water in. They're just not equipped, with personnel or knowledge or time, to fix those things.

So a battery vault starts leaking water in a stormy period, and next you know, the head end of a moving train is a nuclear bomb.