Will new battery-powered trains replace diesel, and are they safe?
Soon battery-powered trains could be coming to a station near you. As the UK’s fleet of diesel engines approaches retirement, manufacturers are looking to replace them with environmentally-friendly alternatives. Trains currently draw power from overhead electrified wires or, on lines without these wires, from onboard diesel generators. Many trains are capable of running from both power sources and switch between the two. Battery-powered trains would save rail operators the cost of installing overhead wires on unelectrified tracks, which are found throughout the UK. At Hitachi’s factory in Newton Aycliffe, north-east England, testing has just finished on a new “tri-mode” train, in which one diesel generator has been swapped for lithium batteries. This allows it to use up to 50% less fuel when running on lines with no overhead wires. source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e7dxzl6w9o