Scottish passengers could be among the first in the world to ride on battery-powered trains under plans unveiled by Japanese firm Hitachi.
The company wants to add batteries to the new electric trains it is building for ScotRail which are being introduced across the Central Belt.
It would extend the range of the Class 385 trains on to non-electrified sections of track.
That could bring the newer trains with their improved comfort to lines currently served by older and more polluting diesel trains.
Hitachi said the trains could run up to 60 miles on batteries. It said recharging would take ten to 15 minutes.
That would mean the trains could run beyond Dunblane – the northern extent of ScotRail’s electrified network – as far as Perth and Dundee.
Hitachi has suggested other routes they could be used on including from Glasgow to East Kilbride and Kilmarnock, and on a Glasgow northern suburban line to Anniesland via Maryhill.
Hitachi has been developing the technology for 15 years ...
...ScotRail said the Hitachi plan was “at a very early stage”.
