802207 Hitachi testing battery power for Transpennine

[IanXC]

Interesting working in the small hours today:

Realtime Trains | 9T73 0050 Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street | 17/03/2025

Real-time train running information for 9T73 0050 departure from Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street on 17/03/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

802207 had its battery pack removed some time ago (at least prior to the December 2024 timetable change).

 

[brad465]

Has any UK rail battery trial actually achieved anything? The 379 battery trial didn't lead to that or any similar class getting battery conversion, nor a new fleet based on its results, even though this was somewhat successful at the time. Can we look forward to a TOC deciding to do a big IET battery conversion, and/or new order, off the back of this trial?

 

[AMD]

Well TfL Overground are seriously considering battery for the West London Orbital proposal -

- due to power constraints at the Hounslow end of the proposed service.

 

[Bald Rick]

I would expect almost all future passenger carrying rolling stock orders to come equipped with some form of traction battery.

 

[800001]

Interesting working in the small hours today:

Realtime Trains | 9T73 0050 Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street | 17/03/2025

Real-time train running information for 9T73 0050 departure from Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street on 17/03/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

Just a normal passenger working isn’t it?
Does it take a different route to normal which would explain different headcode?

To note, 802207 still remains at Newton Aycliffe having its Generator Unit refitted/batteries removed.

Unit that operated this was 802206 a standard TPE 802.

 

[WarrenTManager]

Has any UK rail battery trial actually achieved anything? The 379 battery trial didn't lead to that or any similar class getting battery conversion, nor a new fleet based on its results, even though this was somewhat successful at the time. Can we look forward to a TOC deciding to do a big IET battery conversion, and/or new order, off the back of this trial?

It was very successful as far as I am aware. A very interesting lecture on the testing was given at the Modern Railways Fourth Friday Club prior to the Golden Spanners.

 

[tumbledown]

Unit that operated this was 802206 a standard TPE 802.

I couldn't find any other instance of a 80x on this route, so wondered if there was a special reason.

 

[D365]

It was very successful as far as I am aware. A very interesting lecture on the testing was given at the Modern Railways Fourth Friday Club prior to the Golden Spanners.

A lecture on what?

 

[800001]

802207 has finally left Hitachi’s Merchant Park factory, and headed to Doncaster IEP depot this morning.

 

[Liverpool 507]

802207 re-entered passenger service this morning with 9M04 0423 York - Liverpool Lime Street, going on to Edge Hill tonight after 9M20.

 

[800001]

802207 re-entered passenger service this morning with 9M04 0423 York - Liverpool Lime Street, going on to Edge Hill tonight after 9M20.

First passenger service since 21st March 2022!

 

[TrainViation]

Last year there was a test carried out by Hitachi and Transpennie Express, where batteries were fitted to one of their Class 802 trains, and ran a test along the Transpennine route.

What was the conclusion of this test, and what does it mean for the rest of the 80X fleet with diesel engines? Will they be swapped out soon?

 

[tumbledown]

Hitachi got some business out of it:

Hitachi wins new UK contract to build intercity battery trains : April 3, 2025

Search Hitachi press releases and official announcements.

www.hitachi.com

There are various threads on here about the trial.

 

[John R]

I recall the conclusion was that it was a success. But any retrospective fitment will need DfT to put its hands into its pockets to fund it. I would imagine the contractual negotiations for those ordered under the original IEP order would be a nightmare, so there may be limited appetite to do so. Hull Trains don't run much under diesel, so can't see it being cost effective, and even the Trans Pennine units will soon be running much less away from the wires, again reducing the benefit.

 

[Cowley]

Thread reopened for @Nottingham59 to add to

 

[Nottingham59]

Thanks, @Cowley

I found this conference report about the Hitachi trial in Rail Engineer, which fills in some missing details about the batteries used and the results of the trial: https://www.railengineer.co.uk/batteries-included-2/

This trial commenced in May 2024 with a Class 802 on which one GU had been replaced by a 575kWh battery and a roof-mounted cooling unit. This reduced the weight of the car concerned by 0.5%. The battery supply was configured so that the train could:

• Run on battery only in operation and when stabled.
• Use battery in combination with other two GUs.
• Recharge from OLE and recover braking energy with potential to charge from GUs.

The preliminary report of this trial showed that:

• Had all three GUs been replaced by batteries, CO2 emissions between Newcastle and Liverpool would be 835kg which is 38% of current emissions.
• Between 0 to 72 km/h the battery provided the same acceleration as the GU.
• The battery had a range of at least 70km at speeds up to 140km/hr.
• Fuel savings in fast mode and eco mode were respectively 35% and 57%.
• It took 50 minutes to charge the battery from the OLE with a current limit of 50A.
• The battery could power train auxiliaries for five hours.
• If all three GUs were replaced by batteries, a return run of 135 km off wire was feasible e.g. York to Scarborough.

There's quite a lot of other stuff about traction batteries in the rest of the article too. Including noting that Network Rail are revising their decarbonisation strategy to include BEMUs based on a "worst-case range of 50 miles running at 100mph"

EDIT: I'll start another thread next week about the Decarbonisation Strategy with BEMUs sometime next week, unless anyone else wants to do one sooner.