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12/03/2007
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Hybrid trains, powered by diesel engines, but with batteries charged during regenerative braking that can provide extra power during acceleration, are being developed for commercial use in Japan, and are being proposed for use in the UK
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According to Yutaka Sato, a senior researcher with Hitachi, the “NE Train” has been running for some time as an experimental rail car, in a join development with JR East – the East Japan Railway Company, but “We are now making a commercial train” to fulfil an order for three train sets.
The rail car has a 331kW engine coupled to a 180kW generator and 16 1kWh lithium ion batteries on the roof.
Business department manager Tsukasa Ariyoshi told us, when we encountered him at the Railtex show, that, “We are proposing a similar technology to the UK market.” We asked him about progress with a parallel JR East Hitachi development aimed at using fuel cells to power trains but he said that, “The fuel cells are still experimental because they are still too expensive”.
More information from www.jreast.co.jp/e/development/theme/environment/environment01.html
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Author
Tom Shelley
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