Hitachi Rail, Angel Trains and TransPennine Express (TPE) have agreed ‘in principle’ to retrofit a battery to one of TPE’s hybrid trains for a trial next year.
The train builder said installing battery technology on a Hitachi intercity train will help cut fuel usage and reduce carbon emissions by at least 20%.
The trial provides a pathway for Hitachi Rail and the train’s owner, Angel Trains, to retrofit batteries to the wider TPE ‘Nova 1’ fleet, which comprises 19 trains that connect major towns and cities across Northern England and Scotland.
Hitachi said the trial will also complement the multi-billion-pound Transpennine route upgrade, which was due to include electrification of the whole route - electrification is now being carried out piecemeal.
The company said that with only parts of the TPE route electrified, trains are currently required to use their diesel engines for the majority of the time.
Adding a battery and creating an electric-diesel-battery hybrid (tri-mode) train can increase the amount of the journey carried out in electric mode.
The trial, on the five-carriage trains, will see one of the three diesel engines replaced by batteries, without increasing the overall weight.
The train will be able to operate solely on battery power when travelling in and out of stations, cutting noise and air pollution.
Jim Brewin, Hitachi Rail’s UK and Ireland country lead, said: ‘Hitachi Rail is a world leader in battery technology and believes it will be key to the UK hitting its net zero targets.
‘As a business with a footprint across the North of England and with our factory at Newton Aycliffe, we see enhancing the TPE network as meeting the Government’s levelling up agenda, delivering greener, more efficient services to the region.’
Following an announcement last year, Hitachi and Eversholt Rail are also ‘in the advanced stages’ of designing and engineering an electric-diesel-battery train, with plans to trial on a Great Western Railway (GWR) Class 802 train in 2022.
Like the Transpennine route, the line used by GWR is only partially electrified, with the majority of the 300-mile journey requiring diesel.
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