DfT grants for various innovation projects

[Snow1964]

DfT has issued press release with lots of grants towards rail projects, details of each of 24 awards are on the link

• self-charging trains and pioneering batteries among projects to be funded by Department for Transport
• cutting edge innovation will create the trains of tomorrow leading to a greener, cost-effective railway
• government committed to supporting UK ideas and design, improving our railways and leading the world in innovation

Self-charging trains could make their way onto Britain’s railways, transforming the future of transport after receiving government funding.

Top innovators and inventers have won prize money to bring their innovations to life, as part of the First of a Kind 2022 competition. This year’s competition, in partnership with Innovate UK, focused on new concepts that will transform rail travel for passengers and decarbonising the network.

FOAK 2022 saw 24 innovators receive a share of more than £5 million with grants of up to £400,000 each. From technology making our railways greener than ever before by removing harmful emissions from train exhausts to research into powering our railways with renewable energy, this year’s successful bidders will revolutionise the future of train travel for generations to come.

This year’s winners include:

Varamis who, working closely with DHL and Fedex, are revolutionising parcel delivery in the UK by repurposing former passenger carriages and putting rail right at the heart of the online shopping boom to create high-speed, non-letter delivery services.

Echion Technologies, another successful bidder, is developing batteries that will charge from overhead wires and use that charge to ‘leapfrog’ across unelectrified section of track and, effectively, create self-charging trains – truly, ‘the first of a kind’.

Thales Ground Transportation Systems have developed new sensors which will detect people approaching tracks, pin down their location, and give an early warning to staff – lifesaving technology that will reduce disruption and could act as suicide intervention or even stop protestors getting on the tracks.

Cleaner, greener, self-charging trains of tomorrow to revolutionise British rail travel

Winners announced for the First of a Kind (FOAK) 2022 competition.

www.gov.uk

 

[dgl]

Self charging trains?, they're actually claiming that as something new, really??? It's just a battery train that charges from the overhead wires and I seem to think that something exactly like that already exists from a few manufacturers and is in use. We even have trialled such a thing, have trains in order that can do the same thing from the 3rd rail and have had trains in the past that charged from the 3rd rail for use on unelectrified sidings.

 

[Carlisle]

Do any of the converted parcel. carrying EMUs see regular service? The last time I observed any in meaningful use was around last Christmas.

 

[30907]

Self charging trains?, they're actually claiming that as something new, really??? It's just a battery train that charges from the overhead wires and I seem to think that something exactly like that already exists from a few manufacturers and is in use. We even have trialled such a thing, have trains in order that can do the same thing from the 3rd rail and have had trains in the past that charged from the 3rd rail for use on unelectrified sidings.

The award is actually for an "ultra high power battery" despite the blurb.

 

[stuving]

In case you were bemused by DfT headlining this Echion battery project, while it's been left out of the PDF list of winners, here's a list that does include it from Envirotec Magazine. That item says:

Project title:	Lead organisation:	Project grant:
UBER – Ultra-high power Battery for low Emission Rail	ECHION TECHNOLOGIES LTD	£59,917
Short summary: Supported by Transport Design International, Horiba Mira and DB Cargo, the team aims to demonstrate its XNO battery chemistry for certain classes of battery electric trains. Specifically, it aims to demonstrate its suitability for passenger trains that can be powered by the AC overhead electrification and charge a battery from the overhead wire (or another form of ‘standard’ trackside power, eg third rail), to then run in battery-only mode on unelectrified sections of a route.

I still don't see the point. The power available from OLE or third rail is usually quite limited - not much more that normal traction power. The really high charge power requirement is when it's being
done during a short dwell.

 

[Fazaar1889]

I still don't see the point

They mentioned it was to combat diesel trains but overhead wires exist???? I'm not certain about the specifics but I guess installing overhead wires is costly and disruptive? So this is the cheapest option ig?

 

[popeter45]

They mentioned it was to combat diesel trains but overhead wires exist???? I'm not certain about the specifics but I guess installing overhead wires is costly and disruptive? So this is the cheapest option ig?

such a set up would be to enable partial or rolling electrification, charge while under wires at let say crewe then travel unelectrified routes such as to holyhead
essentally bi mode but replace the diesel engine with a battery

 

[stuving]

They mentioned it was to combat diesel trains but overhead wires exist???? I'm not certain about the specifics but I guess installing overhead wires is costly and disruptive? So this is the cheapest option ig?

I meant I don't see the point of using super-high charge rate batteries for this specific use. This XNO anode may be still good for traction batteries in general, allowing them to be lighter than the LTO type now being used (see the Class 777 thread for more about that).

 

[Fazaar1889]

such a set up would be to enable partial or rolling electrification, charge while under wires at let say crewe then travel unelectrified routes such as to holyhead
essentally bi mode but replace the diesel engine with a battery

Ah that's interesting. If they did replace their entire diesel fleet with battery trains, could that be a step closer to a fully electrified network?

 

[josh-j]

Still seems way more sensible to just institute a rolling programme of electrification rather than repeatedly announcing then cancelling projects. Call me cynical but even bi-modes feel like a tactic for delaying actual electrification rather than a genuine attempt to improve matters.

 

[RailWonderer]

I know this forum carries fantasies of mass electrification but it won't happen, as we saw with the GWML and the MML it was extraordinarily expensive and delayed. The govt simply cannot afford much more electrification.

 

[bangor-toad]

It's just a small grant to look at some new technology and it's application to the rail industry. That's what the "First Of A Kind" innovation funding is all about.

This particular project is as 30907 says, it's just funding to test a new type of battery.

The particular XNO battery chemistry is reasonably well known. It uses less lithium and has a bit less capacity than conventional lithium ion batteries but it can charge much quicker. Sounds like something that might be worth considering for rapid charging. If it could allow a battery to be charged quicker at a station stop, or on a section of discontinuous electrification, then there could be benefits.

A small £60k grant seems a decent way to get some information as to if it's genuinely useful technology or a dead end.
I've no idea if this is going to work but I think it's important that these new ideas are supported and tested.

Cheers,
Mr Toad