Electric cars could provide ‘back-up’ power for railways claim UK engineers

The team from the University’s department of Electronic and Electrical engineering has received £1.5m funding from the EPSRC to develop an energy storage test facility at a site alongside a train line, the first of its kind in the UK.

The facility will examine two types of energy storage - batteries and supercapacitors - as a hybrid solution for the high levels of electricity needed to power trains accelerating and charge from trains braking.

As train companies try to increase the frequency of trains on existing railway infrastructure, electricity supply is under greater pressure to be available at peak times. It’s thought that the use of batteries could reduce the demand for electrical energy supply in these periods and could mean rail operators benefit from more efficient and frequent services. Passengers could in turn benefit from reduced costs and more train services.

Commenting on the project, Dr Martin Foster from the University's Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering said: "Electric powered rail travel has helped to reduce pollution and improve the comfort of travellers. Our project will look at how we can meet the demand for more electricity on our railways by investigating innovative ways to store surplus energy.