Battery bi-mode trains offer cost and environmental savings

The new trains would be powered by overhead wires on electrified routes and switch to batteries on unelectrified sections. 

Consequently, small sections of the routes and/or particular stations would need to be electrified with overhead line equipment (OLE), making it quicker to replace diesel trains compared to full electrification.  

Siemens Mobility further claims that OLE can be installed more quickly using its Rail Charging Converter (RCC).

In a statement, Sambit Banerjee, joint CEO for Siemens Mobility UK & Ireland said: “Britain should never have to buy a diesel passenger train again. Our battery trains, which we’d assemble in our new Goole factory in Yorkshire, can replace Britain’s aging diesel trains without us having to electrify hundreds of miles more track in the next few years. So, on routes from Perth to Penzance, passengers could be travelling on clean, green battery-electric trains by the early 2030s.”

Several train operators are looking to replace their aging diesel fleets, including Chiltern, Great Western Railway (GWR), Northern, ScotRail, TransPennine Express (TPE) and Transport for Wales (TfW), whilst East-West Rail will need to secure new trains.