If it’s Tuesday it must be Olomouc

6th November 2019

It is easy to sympathise with teachers who take groups of schoolchildren on educational visits, as they work hard to keep their charges together. Consider, then, the task of Felix Schmid and Bridget Eickhoff as they led a group of 40 railway engineers (and their luggage) from the Czech Republic to Switzerland via Austria. This took a week and involved 14 technical visits, four hotels, a sleeper train, travel on 24 other trains and 12 trams. The average start time was 07:45.

This was the IMechE Railway Division’s Annual Technical Tour, one which Felix and Bridget had spent months organising. For everyone on the tour, it was huge learning experience to see the manufacture, maintenance and operation of trains and trams, as well as learning from each other. The opportunity to have informal chats with senior engineers was particularly useful for the young engineers, some of whom contributed to this article.

In addition to the engineering experience, the group had to hone its time management, organisational and packing skills to keep up with the demanding schedule. The tour also provided an opportunity to visit cities that many of the group had never heard of.

Participants had made their own way to Prague where the tour started at 13:00 on Saturday 5 October with a short tram ride to a train maintenance depot.

České dráhy

In the Czech Republic, infrastructure maintenance is undertaken by the state infrastructure manager, SZDC whilst České dráhy (CD) is the state railway operator, although there are also some private operators. The Czech rail network is about two thirds the size of the UK’s railway and 31 per cent of it is electrified. Overhead electrification is a mix of 3kV DC in the north and 25kV AC in the south. There is a 20-year plan to convert the 3kV DC lines to 25kV AC.

The visit was CD’s Prague maintenance centre, which is responsible for 90 EMUs, 247 DMUs, 75 diesel locomotives, 113 electric locomotives and 1,082 coaches. The EMUs include the Czech Pendolinos and the double decker “City Elefant” EMUs. CD has two other maintenance centres, at Pilsen in the west and Olomouc in the south.

At the Prague maintenance centre, which has 40 kilometres of track, the group visited its two maintenance sheds and saw loco-hauled coaches being maintained in one and Elefant EMUs in the other, where a wheel lathe had been installed a year ago. To make the best use of this lathe, CD is about to procure a wheelset preventative monitoring system.

Prague’s trams

Sunday offered sightseeing with a purpose. The funicular ride up the hill to Prague’s Petřin Tower viewpoint showed why this type of railway needs wheelsets with one double flanged wheel (to run on the continuous outside rail) and the other with no flanges (to cross breaks for cables in its fixed switches).

The funicular’s unusual wheelsets and fixed switches.

In the afternoon, the group visited the Prague public transport museum. This had many tram vehicles, illustrating the expansion of the city’s substantial tram system, which started in 1875 with the first horse drawn tram and had its first electric tram operating in 1891. Prague’s tram network now covers 141 kilometres with 35 lines.

The numerous trams, and other artefacts, in the museum showed how these vehicles had developed. They included a motor tramcar dating from 1901 and specialist vehicles such as a substation car, which had a transformer and rotary converter so that it could be connected to an AC substation to boost the overhead supply when required, such as during major sporting events.

The tour left the museum on the 1915-built tram 349 and its trailer car for a tour of the Prague tram system. Our driver, Helga, demonstrated the hard work and skill that is required to drive such historic trams.

Škoda

Monday started with a train ride to Pilsen to visit Škoda’s rolling stock plant on which Emma Armstrong, a graduate engineer from ScotRail, reports:

Continuing Škoda’s long tradition at Pilsen, Škoda Transportation has been manufacturing rolling stock here since the 1990s, particularly electric rail vehicles for suburban transport. The site runs an end-to-end process in the production of tram and locomotive vehicles, with EMU and carriages being manufactured at other sites throughout the Czech Republic. There is also a subsidiary company in Finland – Transtech Oy.

The factory consists of several sheds used in the building of coaches, refurbishment of vehicles and overhaul of bogies. The tour was limited to the assembly halls, paint shed and testing track. On display were vehicles at varying stages of assembly or overhaul including the Emil Zatopek locomotive (named after the famous Czech long-distance runner) and driving coaches from double-decker EMUs that are supplied to Deutsche Bahn and are capable of a top speed of 189km/h.

Interestingly, only electric traction vehicles are currently produced at this site. Although Škoda can produce diesel hybrid vehicles, customer demand remains focused on electric vehicles.

The current rolling stock manufacturing process begins with the welding of the initial body shell which is then transported through the plant for low-level equipment fitment, interior cabling and high-level fitment such as HVAC (heating/ventilation/air-conditioning) and pantograph assemblies. Škoda uses a 36-metre covered traverser to move vehicles during manufacturing.

Completed vehicles are initially tested using a short on-site test track. For more intense testing, the heavy rail rolling stock is sent to the Velim test track at Cerhenice, 150km away to the east.

Škoda manufactures almost all the required components, either at this site or other locations, to enable them to produce a fully Škoda product.

From Plzen, it was a 1¼-hour train ride back to Prague, then another 2½-hour train journey to Olomouc, in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic.

Olomouc’s unusual crossing

Tuesday saw the tour in the city of Olomouc, where the group split into two. One party visited the OLTIS group headquarters to see its IT solutions for railway performance and operational management. The other group visited an unusual level crossing, as Nadeem Ahmed, a Network Rail graduate electrical engineer, reports:

In 2013, an extension to one of Olomouc’s tram lines crossed a single-track railway that catered for 28 trains per day. The resultant tram/train crossing was designed so that the tram wheel flanges run across the head of the heavy rail. As it does so, the tram wheel is not constrained. However, as the crossing is angled at 60 degrees, the other tram wheel is in the tram track.

The Olomouc council funded and built the level crossing over six months. The formation of the crossing began with a geo cell layer, with additional layers consisting of sand, concrete and steel meshes to provide enough strength to withstand the various loads. Trains go over this crossing at 80km/h, whilst trams cross it at 10 km/h.

Afterwards, the group visited the Olomouc’s public transport control centre to learn how timekeeping of trams and buses is monitored and controlled. Olomouc has a 31-kilometre tram network with 75 switches, two thirds of which have switch heaters as winter temperatures are typically -10°C. The city has 71 trams and 59 buses.

Brno’s trams

A 1½-hour train ride took the group to Brno, the Czech Republic’s second city with a population of about 400,000. Brno has a 70-kilometre tram network on which a fleet of 300 trams operate. It also has a 60-kilometre trolley bus network, with 140 trolley buses, and 46 bus routes. Ten trolley buses with batteries are being procured to allow for network disruption during road works.

Another chartered tram took the group to the main depot, with a stop to examine a newly installed 80km/h switch. For trams, this is a high-speed switch as the normal speed through street switches is 15km/h on the straight and 10km/h on the curve.

Examining high-speed tram switch in Brno.

At the depot, the systems used to monitor the timekeeping of each vehicle were explained, as were the ways in which passengers are kept informed. Five buses and four trams are kept on standby around the city, ready to be quickly brought into service in the event of any disruption.

The control room also closely monitors power consumption, with drivers receiving bonuses for low electricity use. Interestingly, control can temporarily switch off the heating on trolley buses and trams remotely if overall power consumption is too high.

During the depot tour, there was an opportunity to examine old and new tram bogies. Notable were the large braking solenoids on the trailer bogies, which are needed as the trams have no air system.

A second 1½-hour train journey took the group from Brno to Vienna.

Wiener Linien

Portal running gear, including traction motor of an ultra-low floor tram.

Vienna’s public transport system consists of a 29-line tram network of 181 kilometres, five U-Bahn lines totalling 65 kilometres and 43 daytime bus routes. It is operated by Wiener Linien, which has 526 trams, of which 168 have low floors. The tour visited the main workshops in Vienna, which undertakes tram heavy maintenance and component repairs, including bogies, traction motors, wheelsets and brake gear.

Of particular interest was the opportunity to inspect the unusual suspension and drive system of the ultra-low-floor trams supplied by Siemens between 2006 and 2015. These consist of a series of vehicle modules with portal running gear in between. There is a rigid connection between the driving cab module and the adjacent module, between which is the portal gear with single trailing wheels. Other modules are supported at one end by the portal gear through the secondary suspension and flexibly coupled to the next one. These portals have 52kW asynchronous traction motors driving each single wheel.

These trams are 36 metres long, which presents a problem as the workshop traverser, constrained by the workshop’s columns, is only 30 metres long. For this reason, the traverser is about as wide as it is long to accommodate trams on its curved track.

Traktionssysteme Austria

The group’s next call in Vienna was to the manufacturing plant of Traktionssysteme Austria (TSA) as Franziska Schmuecker, a project engineer for Eversholt Rail, reports:

TSA is an independent manufacturer of traction motors and gearboxes for rolling stock and road vehicles. The company’s values – “Innovative. Independent. Impassioned.” – were clear from the start of the visit, which was split in two parts: a series of presentations on the history of the company and its products (including UK products such as those for the new Glasgow Subway trains) followed by a tour of the production facilities.

The first technical presentation outlined the different traction motor cooling concepts used by TSA, which included self-ventilation, forced ventilation, liquid cooling and air cooling. Motors can be either an enclosed design or an open design using fresh air to cool the motor. Another presentation explained the advantages and disadvantages of different motor suspension arrangements.

One presentation explained the latest permanent-magnet traction motors, which provide a superior power output (up to 67 per cent increase) and torque (48 per cent increase) for the same motor size. Where size and weight are constraining factors, this is a great advantage.

As with all innovations, there are challenges to overcome, mainly controlling the induced voltage at higher speeds, which leads to the need for a separate traction inverter to control each motor. From all the presentations, it was clear that TSA is highly flexible in the projects and types of motor it delivers.

The presentations were followed by a tour through the production facilities, following the manufacturing process from the stamping of the rotor and stator laminations to the finished motor. Almost everything, except for the production of the standard coils, is done in-house, including the testing of the finished motor. TSA produces around 6,000 motors per year in this facility.

Producing yellow plant

Thursday started with a 200-kilometre train ride, at up to 250km/h, on the upgraded Austrian West Railway to Linz. Here, the tour visited a well-known manufacturer of yellow plant as Calum McLean, an assistant electrical project engineer with Network Rail describes:

Plasser and Theurer manufactures a major proportion of the world’s track maintenance machines. The range includes tampers, for which the company is perhaps best known, as well as machines for ballast management, stabilisation and control, ballast bed cleaning, formation rehabilitation, material logistics, the renewal and laying of tracks and turnouts, mobile rail treatment and the measurement, installation and maintenance of overhead lines.

If a customer’s requirements are not fulfilled by the standard range, special purpose machines can be manufactured as well. In any case, all machines are custom built to individual customer requirements and training is provided at the Linz plant for each machine.

It is not necessary to be a track engineer to appreciate how these machines have revolutionised track renewals and maintenance. For example, Plasser and Theurer advises that its machines can renew 2.6km of track per hour, compared with a 100 metres of track per hour when such machines were not available.

It was impressive to see the work that goes into manufacturing these machines, particularly as the company manufactures nearly all its own parts to ensure product quality. Every year, the Linz site produces around 150 machines of varying types with a workforce of 1,800. Despite this apparent complexity, bogie production has been standardised – there are only two basic types of bogies for all types of machine, albeit with varying track gauges.

Linzer Linien

Unlike other trams seen on the tour, those in Linz are 900 mm gauge. The city has a five-line, 61-kilometre tram network with 62 trams. 56 of these are low-flow single ended trams built by Bombardier, including Cityrunner trams, supplied from 2002, and Flexity Outlook 2, delivered from 2011. There are also four double ended Flexity Outlook trams with modifications for steep gradients as well as three 1974 trams that were rebuilt in 2010 with new running gear which are also suitable for steep gradients.

After a depot tour, the group boarded one of the rebuilt 1974 trams for a ride to the Pöstlingbergbahn museum, which explains the history of one of the world’s steepest adhesion railways. This opened in 1898 and climbs 255 metres in 2.9 kilometres, with a maximum gradient of 11.8 per cent (1 in 8.5). After seeing the museum, the tram took the group to the top of the Pöstlingberg, a hill overlooking the Danube valley.

From Linz, the group travelled overnight to Switzerland on cramped double-decker sleepers.

Stadler

After the sleeper arrived at Buch early on Friday, a local train and bus took the group to the site of a former seaplane factory on Lake Constance that is now Stadler’s manufacturing plant. Abigail Carson, a consultant engineer for Ricardo Rail, reports on the tour’s visit to this facility which, for her, was the highlight of the tour:

What impresses about Stadler is its lean production and how it achieves mass production combined with tailor-made solutions. The variety of rolling stock Stadler produces is impressive, from locomotives bound for California, Merseyrail’s new trains, double-decker KISS trains and compact Glasgow Subway trains – all with completely different body structures and sizes with vastly different design requirements.

Walking through the facility, it was interesting to see how the mass-produced, bare aluminium sections were transformed into such widely differing trains. It was clear that Stadler is growing and expanding with ease, supplying rolling stock globally.

The production layout is simple, logical, and easily adaptable. Each step of the manufacturing process is lean and efficiently timed. There is a coherent system, with a well-disciplined workforce and robust processes. The entire facility is spotless and has an almost clinical feel.

It was interesting to learn how Stadler utilises its expensive machinery by overlapping shifts. However, there are noise challenges associated with the surrounding villages, so sequencing the processes for the time of day is vital.

Appenzeller Bahnen

The remainder of the tour was spent in the rolling hills of eastern Switzerland, where train services are provided by Appenzeller Bahnen. Friday afternoon was spent experiencing the company’s two rack railways. The first, from Rheineck, by Lake Constance, was the 1.9-kilometre rack railway to Walzenhausen, which climbs 272 metres at a maximum gradient of 25 per cent.

From here, the group, and its luggage, just fitted onto a PostBus for a 20-minute ride to Heiden, which is 794 metres above sea level and the upper terminus of the 7.2-kilometre rack railway that descends 396 metres to Rorschach at a maximum gradient of nine per cent. The rack railway depot at Heiden, which was commissioning double-deck buses made in Scotland for the Swiss PostBus system, provided an insight into rack railway traction and braking systems. An examination of one of the motor bogies showed its braking system and the complex drive that enables the trains to be driven by either their rack or rail wheels.

Rack railway switch outside Heiden depot.

The future of both these rack railways is currently being assessed, as they only cover about 30 per cent of their operating costs. Options under consideration include closure, automatic operation or, for the Heiden railway, which only has an hourly service, investment in extra capacity to generate extra revenue.

Whilst there is some doubt about the future of the Appenzeller Bahnen’s two rack railways, Saturday’s tour revealed the significant recent investment in its one-metre gauge adhesion railways. At St Gallen, the party’s train went through a 705-metre tunnel, opened in October last year, to replace a steeply graded part of the route that was a rack railway. This enabled a 15-minute service frequency to be introduced.

From St Gallen to the depot at Gais, the group travelled on a Stadler-built ‘Tango’ low-floor light-rail vehicle, which was one of eleven such trains delivered last year at a total cost of £66 million. These 53-metre-long units consist of two sets of three modules. The centre module of each set is mounted on a bogie and supports the adjacent modules, which each have only one bogie. This gives the six-module unit six bogies in a configuration that is designed for the sharp 30-metre radius curves on the route, which has a maximum gradient of eight per cent.

At Gais, there was an opportunity for a detailed examination of these units, together with the larger, 59-metre-long ‘Walzer’ low-floor EMU, five of which were also delivered last year at a cost of £31 million. The group travelled on one of these units from Appenzell to Gossau, to change onto the Swiss equivalent of a Pendolino (RABDe 500 jointly developed by Bombardier and Alstom) to Zurich and the end of the tour.

Shared learning

After seven intense days, it was clear that everyone had learned much from the visits and from each other. The 14 visits were a rare opportunity to study heavy and light rail maintenance and production outside the UK. The young engineers on the tour commented that they particularly appreciated the opportunity to see rail vehicle manufacturing at Škoda, Stadler and Plasser & Theurer, as well as the traction motor production at Traktionssysteme Austria.

Close scrutiny of the tram systems in Prague, Olomouc, Brno, Vienna and Linz showed the differences between main line and light rail practice. Many commented on the portal suspension of Vienna’s ultra low floor trams, Olomouc’s tram train crossing and the wide variety of tram bogies seen. The tour also highlighted the lack of light rail systems in the UK. Brno, for example, has a 70-kilometre tram network and is the same size as tram-free Leicester.

The way that Apenzellerland railways overcome the challenges of the Swiss terrain was also impressive and thought provoking. Indeed, one senior group of engineers debated the workings of rack and pinion traction well into the night. Although it was unclear whether the new Tango units were trains or trams, they are perfectly adapted to their sharply curved, one-metre gauge track with impressive acceleration up an eight per cent grade.

As one younger member of the tour put it, “we can learn so much from how things are done in different countries”. Providing such an opportunity was just one reason why the Railway Division’s Annual Technical Tour is such a worthwhile event.

Participants in the IMechE Technical Tour would like to thank Felix Schmid and Bridget Eickhoff, who organised and led the tour, all the group’s hosts in the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland, the event’s sponsors: Angel Trains, Beeston Rail Standards, Birmingham University Alumni, Eversholt Rail, Malcolm Dobell Consulting Ltd, Manchester Engineering Consultancy and Unipart Rail. Thanks also to Emma Armstrong, Nadeem Ahmed, Franziska Schmuecker, Calum McLean and Abigail Carson for their contributions to this feature.

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A little sand in the right place works wonders

6th November 2019

Part 3, Operational Trials

In November 2017 (issue 157), Rail Engineer reported on trials undertaken at the Rail Innovation and Development Centre, Melton of multiple variable rate sanders fitted to a GWR class 387 EMU, with the expectation that service brake performance would be significantly improved in poor adhesion conditions.

Then, in May 2018 (issue 163), Rail Engineer reported on a seminar held by RSSB to present the results of those tests. They reported that 6% G deceleration could be achieved, even in very poor adhesion conditions. At the end of that seminar, RSSB appealed to members to volunteer to help them take the project forward.

Rolling forward to October 2019, at the invitation of RSSB’s Aaron Barrett and Paul Gray, Rail Engineer arrived at Redditch station – one end of the Birmingham Cross-City line – to witness further tests that were carried out over several Sundays in October 2019 and to learn what had happened since 2017/8.

West Midlands Trains, the operator trading though the West Midlands Railway and London NorthWestern Railway brands, had volunteered to work with RSSB as they were particularly keen to improve the reliability of the Cross-City line, where, as operations director Mark Steward explained, there are significant leaf fall problems from trees on third-party property. WMT routinely implements an autumn timetable, which slows the trains and harms punctuality.

Since Autumn 2018, enhanced adhesion performance data has been collated and analysed on the Cross-City Line, including additional train traction/braking monitoring equipment on Class 323 units. Although this has provided further insight into the effectiveness of the various low-adhesion treatments, only limited results were obtained as the drivers drove mostly in step 1, the lowest brake rate, and provoked little WSP (wheel-slide protection) activity.

Undaunted, two units have been equipped with variable rate sanders, a) to replace the fixed rate sanders dispensing on the third axle in the direction of travel and b) additionally to apply sand under the seventh axle of these three-car units. A further change since the original tests is that sander operation is now automatic in response to the train WSP equipment.

The Class 323 train that was used for the trials.

Test set up

The purpose of the test was two-fold. Firstly, to ensure that the performance of the improved sanders on the Class 323 was at least as good as that on the previous trial, and secondly, but most importantly, to enable WMT drivers and health and safety representatives to experience how the system works and to be able to use higher brake rates, steps 2 and 3, with confidence.

Arrangements were quite similar to those for the 2017 tests, except for the site and the rolling stock. Despite a very strong desire not to disrupt passenger services, all concerned saw the benefit of demonstrating the system to drivers who would operate the trains on infrastructure that they drive every day – hence the Redditch site.

The paper tape that was laid on the track to replicate fallen leaves.

In summary, paper tape was applied onto the running rails over a length of approximately 750 metres. The tape was wetted with train-mounted water sprays to provide the low adhesion conditions, and the train was then run over the tape for two out-and-back moves to bed the tape in.

Then several runs were carried out, braking from 55mph without sanding to condition the rails before a step 1 brake was used to demonstrate slide at a low brake rate and thus poor adhesion. Finally braking runs with sand in steps 2 and 3 were demonstrated.

One of the safety control measures was to lower the pantograph before entering the paper tape zone and not raise it again until the train had coasted off the tape. This measure ensured that there were no adverse effects from possible poor traction return paths whilst on the paper tape; a lesson learned from the 2017 tests.

Another precaution was the provision of a temporary additional compressed air tank. This provided a reserve of compressed air whilst the pantograph was down and the compressor out of action.

To illustrate the effect of the enhanced sanding, a step 3 brake with no sand only managed to reduce speed from 55 miles/hour to 40 miles/hour by the end of the paper tape (a speed reduction of 15 miles/hour over the 750 metres travelled).

Once the enhanced sanders were activated for a repeat test, the brake application was so successful that the brakes had to be released early because there was barely enough momentum left to coast to the end of the paper tape so that the pantograph could be raised again. Your author was in conversation with Parvaiz Elahi, the ASLEF health and safety representative, during the step 3 test with sand and we were both suitably impressed.

ASLEF representative Parvaiz Elahi (left) discusses the trials with DB ESG’s Andrew Lightoller.

A further innovation was the method of controlling the possession. Network Rail’s operational sponsor and organiser of the tests, Dominic Mottram, said this is a comparatively unusual Signal Protection Zone, where both incursion into and out of the possession is controlled solely by signals held at danger. Whilst SPZs are not a new concept to the railway, the success and positive reaction to their implementation for this project has already attracted attention from other parts of Network Rail.

Dominic added that this project was a team approach with Network Rail, RSSB, West Midlands Trains, DB ESG, Ricardo Rail playing leading roles and with a very important stakeholder in the form of the West Midlands Rail Executive.

Results

What follows are the impressions from the day; RSSB will publish formal results in due course.

Mark Steward of West Midlands Trains told Rail Engineer that the test objective – building driver confidence when driving relatively normally on contaminated track – had been delivered. He said that the next step is to introduce the two units into passenger service. Mark was aiming to use experienced drivers on these modified units, and to compare their performance with the performance of the trains in front and behind using ‘big data’ analysis techniques to assess performance in service.

He added that, as this is an experiment, he recognises that there will be a risk of station over-runs when driving this way, and will manage that risk appropriately, both for safety of the railway and for driver competence management, such that drivers will not be penalised if they are driving modified units on contaminated track using the techniques tested.

He added that he had not been prepared to authorise the trial unless he was confident it was safe and his visit was partly to gain that confidence.

Drivers, their representatives, and their managers were most impressed with the system. If this autumn’s service trial is successful, it is to be hoped that the system will be fitted to many more trains over the next few years.

Thanks to Paul Gray (RSSB), Mark Steward (West Midlands Trains), Dominic Mottram (Network Rail), Andrew Lightoller (DB ESG) and Liam Purcell (Ricardo Rail) for their assistance with this article.

Locos go bi- and tri-mode!

6th November 2019

KF 9O8A1126 Siemens Vectron for Finland – 3302 seen at Jyväskylä operating as an electric on 25 April 2018 . ONLINE — Siemens Vectron for Finland – 3302 seen at Jyväskylä operating as an electric on 25 April 2018. (Keith Fender)

Guest writer: Keith Fender

Rail Engineer has previously looked at several innovative forms of traction for new passenger trains; from the Hitachi built bi-mode (electric / diesel) trains now widely in use in the UK (with other bi-modes such as the Class 769 conversions coming into service soon) to the iLint hydrogen powered train in passenger service in Germany (with several hydrogen powered projects announced in the UK too now).

However, until now, we haven’t looked in detail at the developing range of bi or tri mode locos now being designed and built for use in the UK and Europe.

Not a new idea

Dual mode, bi-mode, or electro-diesel locos are not new in conceptual terms. Diesel locos equipped with third rail pickup were developed for use by the New Haven Railroad in the mid-1950s in New York City, where steam and diesel usage was prohibited from 1903, leading to early electrification and time-consuming traction changes from steam to electric outside the city limits.

Siemens supplied electric mining locos equipped with auxiliary petrol engines to a diamond mine in South Africa as long ago as 1925!

British Rail and English Electric built a fleet of 49 Class 73 third-rail electric locos equipped with 600HP diesel engines from 1962 onwards and converted another ten older Class 71s to Class 74 (all since scrapped). 52 years later, some of the Class 73/1 versions are still in service, with the original engine, with freight company GB Railfreight, although others have been completely rebuilt as Class 73/9 with modern engines and traction equipment.

Last Mile vs. Main Line diesel

All of the major European manufacturers have developed bi-mode or hybrid locos in the last decade, but they vary considerably in terms of power rating – and orders received.

The initial trend of all the manufacturers was rather like the old BR Class 73/74 – to provide ‘Last Mile’ diesel power, enabling an electric loco to access non-electrified branch lines and yards. The diesel power installed was usually a small engine (around 180kW or 240HP, so around the power of half the old BR Class 73) hidden in an equipment cupboard inside the loco.

Bombardier and Siemens between them have sold the most ‘Last Mile’ equipped locos with Siemens selling 112 Vectrons fitted with 180kW diesel power modules and Bombardier 120 Traxx AC locos (90 of which were in use at mid-2019); the latest with 230kW diesel power modules and 40kW battery packs (used to provide a short term traction boost when the loco is operating in last mile mode).

Within these totals, Siemens is currently supplying 80 1,524mm gauge Vectrons (see top of page), each with two 180kW last mile diesel power packs, to Finnish state railway operator VR to enable replacement of diesel trip/shunting locos on non-electrified freight routes.

Bombardier has supplied ‘last mile’ diesel modules as an option since it launched the Traxx 3 variant of its long running Traxx design; the latest version, the Traxx 3 Multi System that is now undergoing final Europe-wide approval testing, can combine a quadri-voltage (1.5/3kV DC and 15/25kV AC) electric loco with a 230kW diesel power pack /40kW battery pack for last mile operation.

Austrian freight operator Wiener Lokal Bahn has six Class 187 ‘Last Mile’ equipped Traxx 3 locos on order. The locos are also equipped with remote control so can be driven in yards etc by staff on the ground. In the picture taken at Bombardier’s Kassel factory on 4 April, the loco is running on diesel and the driver is on the ground next to the loco. Side lights beside the driver’s doors illuminate when the loco is being driven remotely (they are different colours for diesel and electric operation).

WLC (Wiener Lokalbahnen Cargo) 187 324 diesel outside Bombardier’s Kassel factory, 4 April 2019. (Keith Fender)

New Trend – bi-mode main line locos

Before it sold its transportation, business based near Valencia in Spain to Stadler in 2016, Vossloh had identified the market opportunity for ‘go anywhere’ locos that could operate under catenary but which also have enough diesel power to operate through passenger and freight trains away from the electrified network.

Instead of just including a ‘last mile’ diesel module within a modern electric loco, the EuroDual loco range, which Stadler is now offering, is a capable electric locomotive that also has a powerful 2,800kW diesel engine.

Class 88 away from the wires – a guest appearance on the Severn Valley Railway in May 2018. (Keith Fender)

Vossloh also sold two versions of its initial UK-Dual design, based on the UK Class 68 (UK Light diesel loco) bodyshell, although deliveries were made by Stadler after they took over the business. Ten ‘UK-Dual’ – 4,000kW 25kV AC electric and 700kW diesel (using a Euro IIIB emissions compliant Caterpillar C27 diesel engine) – Class 88 locos were ordered by Beacon Rail in September 2013 for DRS using essentially the same body shell as the Class 68. Like the Class 68, the Class 88 used ABB traction equipment.

The Class 88 order was followed in October 2013 with an order for 50 similar but 1,067mm gauge locos for passenger services in South Africa, for delivery in 2015-16. A modified version of the ‘UK Dual’ bodyshell was chosen to accommodate the South African loading gauge. Whilst some of these were built, in advance of the UK Class 88s, deliveries have been suspended due to ongoing contractual problems in South Africa.

Late in 2018 came news of a planned new variant of the UK Dual Class 88 – but this time a tri-mode loco – with diesel, overhead electric and also battery power. Beacon was once again to be the buyer, but the end customer would be UK stock-movement specialist Rail Operations Group. So far, the locos have not actually been ordered, so technical details are limited, but lithium-titanate batteries would be fitted to store energy from regenerative braking plus the overhead supply.

The design concept assumes use of the batteries to increase starting power, enabling heavier trains to be moved and to supplement diesel power for short periods, for example when going up gradients. The Class 93 may feature a slightly more powerful diesel engine than that used in the Class 88.

Pan European bi-modes

Some of the big European manufacturers are aiming to supply freight operators with locos that are powerful enough, as diesels, to handle freight on non-electrified secondary routes but also are powerful electric locos for use on electrified trunk routes. This is especially true in countries such as Germany or Austria, where most diesel-hauled freight currently operates for hundreds of kilometres under electric catenary (as much as 80 per cent of the time in Germany).

Very few ‘pure’ main line diesel locos have been built for use in Europe in the last decade; Stadler’s Euro 4000 six-axle design has taken the majority of orders, with Siemens and Alstom selling very few. Bombardier has sold 51 of its Traxx Multi-Engine (Traxx ME) loco to operators in Germany – this design has four small diesel engines instead of one large one, offering cheaper maintenance, the ability to operate with one or two engines switched off when running light, and redundancy.

Spanish manufacturer CAF built the first big European bi-mode locos over a decade ago. Nine six-axle ‘Bitrac’ electro-diesels were built for use in Spain, but CAF sold no more. These 4,500kW electric / 3,600kW diesel locos (fitted with two MTU 12V R43L engines) are now owned by Beacon Rail and leased to French Railways’ international freight subsidiary Captrain.

EuroDual for ELP under construction at Stadler’s Valencia factory in early 2019. (Keith Fender)

The Stadler EuroDual design, as already mentioned, is a powerful six-axle electro-diesel which utilises the same 2,800kW Caterpillar C175-16 diesel engine (as used UK Class 68 but the EuroDual uses the more-modern Stage IIIB version) in addition to offering 6,150kW (power at wheel rim) as a 25kV AC electric.

Stadler has sold 30 EuroDual locos, and agreed options for 70 more, to new Swiss-based leasing company European Loc Pool (ELP). Some are currently being tested whilst others are in production at Stadler’s Valencia factory. For the first batch of ten locos, ELP ordered two locos specifically for use in Scandinavia with winterisation (for temperatures as low as -40°C) and signalling systems for use in Norway and Sweden, plus eight locos for use in Germany. All ten locos are equipped for operation from 15kV/25kV AC catenary.

The 126 tonne locos have a starting tractive effort of 500kN (under both diesel and electric power) and a top speed of 120km/h (although they could be geared for 160km/h if required). The three-axle bogies are an improved form of those used under the Stadler Euro 4000 CoCo diesel design and each bogie has three asynchronous traction motors. Initially, the ‘German’ locos are only designed for use in Germany, although Stadler intends to secure approval for operation in other countries in the future.

Further orders

In addition to the ELP order, Stadler has orders for ten EuroDual (15kV/25kV AC bi-mode) locomotives for German operator HVLE. ITL (owned by SNCF French Railways via Captrain) also ordered four locos in the same configuration for use in Germany in late 2018. The prototype EuroDual, which is a 25kV AC/1.5kV DC bi-mode version, has been sold to VFLI in France – unlike the other locos this loco is equipped with French safety systems.

During 2019, Stadler has announced an order for seven locos for Turkish open access operator Körfez Ulaştırma, due for delivery in 2021. Körfez Ulaştırma will use the locos to operate 2,000-tonne oil trains in Turkey. Stadler will also maintain the fleet.

Stadler says it has now sold 74 of its new EuroDual six axle locos. Stadler has also announced orders for 22 bi-mode locos for Spanish national rail infrastructure manager ADIF for delivery in 2021/22 – technical details for this order have not been announced.

Siemens presented the first of its new ‘Dual Mode’ (DM) version of the Vectron locomotive in March 2019. Designed as a mid-power diesel loco (2,400kW) and mid-power AC electric loco (2,000kW) in one four-axle loco, the Vectron DM offers the maximum flexibility to freight operators for traffic that originates or is destined for places on non-electrified lines but which uses the electrified main line network for the trunk-haul part of their routes.

Siemens estimates that German freight operators, currently using over 700 older diesel locos, could save 53 per cent of their energy and maintenance costs, plus reduce CO2 emissions by 950 tonnes annually per locomotive, by using the new Vectron DM instead of an existing diesel loco.

Siemens developed and built the first German Class 248 Vectron Dual Mode loco from scratch in six months. This fast concept to prototype period was possible as the Vectron Dual Mode uses bogies and traction motors from the existing diesel-only Vectron DE platform and these were already available as, so far, only nine Vectron DE Class 247 locos have been built since the model’s launch in 2010.

The Vectron Dual Mode will now probably replace the Vectron DE in Siemens’ range, although the company would potentially continue to offer it to customers outside Germany if the order quantity was economically attractive.

The 90-tonne loco is capable of 160kmh. It is equipped with a 2,500-litre diesel fuel tank and the German PZB signalling system (although it is pre-equipped for ETCS). Whilst not designed for passenger operation, Siemens says it could be equipped with electric train supply for air conditioning etc if that was requested. Siemens is currently testing the two prototypes and seeking orders for the new Vectron Dual Mode with delivery from Q4 2020 promised.

The MTU 4000 engine used in the Vectron Dual Mode, fitted with a set of large air filters, meets EU Stage V emissions standards (as does the four-engined, pure-diesel Bombardier Traxx ME).

NJT ALP 45DP leaving Seacaucus Junction, New Jersey, June 2017. (Keith Fender)

Across the Atlantic

Bombardier has also built bi-mode locomotives, but not for use in Europe. Its ALP 45DP BoBo electro-diesel has been supplied to commuter rail operators in New Jersey (USA) and Montreal in Canada. New Jersey Transit (NJT) has a fleet of 35 and is currently adding a further 17.

The 4,000kW (electric), 2,700kW (diesel) ALP45DP has an axle loading of 34.1 tonnes (compared to 22.5 for the four axle European Siemens Dual Mode). The North American loco is fitted with two Caterpillar 3512C HD engines and, in the case of the NJT locos, works from two traction voltages too (12.5kV 25Hz AC and 25kV 60Hz AC) at up to 125mph (electric only).

Siemens has also built bi-mode locos for US commuter operator Long Island Railroad in the 1990s (23 DM30AC electro-diesels delivered from 1996).

Adding a third dimension – battery power

While developments in battery technology are leading to all major manufacturers looking at battery power for passenger trains, it is increasingly being considered for locomotives too.

Battery powered locos are not new – the first named “Galvani” was demonstrated by its inventor Robert Davidson between Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1842!

During the 19th century, many manufacturers built small battery shunting locos but, using lead acid batteries, they were heavy, slow and had limited range.

A British battery loco that is 102 years young this year, and still in daily use, seen at Hythe in August 2019. (Keith Fender)

The Hythe Pier railway in Hampshire uses two small Brush-built electric locos delivered as battery locos in 1917 to work in an armaments factory. They are still in use, although converted to third rail operation, as this August 2019 picture shows!

Battery technology has moved a long way in the last few years. Batteries are now being used daily for trams in many cities – although often only for short sections – and they are now seen by all the major manufacturers as a key traction option for the future. As mentioned earlier, the Beacon/ROG Class 93 design would use batteries, primarily to enhance starting performance but also to store energy.

Combining modern battery technology with electric traction systems and, in some cases diesel engines, as well, could be the next trend in locomotive design. Some such locos already exist – Chinese rail engineering firm CRRC has delivered electric locos with battery packs, charged via regenerative braking or ground supply, for use operating engineering trains on metros in Sydney (Australia), Hong Kong and Guangzhou (China). Maximum Speed using battery power is 40km/h.

CRRC loco for DB at Innotrans 2018. (Keith Fender)

CRRC has also supplied two diesel-battery hybrid shunting locos to German Rail operator DB for use operating maintenance trains on the Hamburg S-Bahn network (one was displayed at Innotrans in 2018). A total of four locomotives are on order, to be equipped with lithium-titanate batteries capable of generating 150kW of traction power (or, with the 250kW diesel engine, a combined 400kW).

In August, Welsh rack-railway operator the Snowdon Mountain Railway announced it has ordered two battery-diesel hybrid locomotives from British manufacturer Clayton Equipment. The new locos will replace older diesels and will use regenerative braking on the descent to generate energy for use on the next ascent to the summit of Snowdon.

Several smaller European manufacturers, including Gmeinder, are now offering battery hybrid options for previously diesel-only designs; the Gmeinder DE75 BB four-axle shunter has a 354kW Caterpillar engine and a lithium-ion traction battery pack producing 600kW of traction power between them.

Russian manufacturer Transhmash unveiled a diesel battery hybrid loco in 2019, equipped with a 200kW diesel engine plus a 240kW lithium ion battery pack.

Vossloh Locomotives, which is being bought by Chinese firm CRRC, offers its DE18 four-axle diesel with 150kWh battery packs in addition to the standard ‘straight’ 1,800kW diesel version.

Turkish manufacturer Tülomsas has rebuilt mid-1980s vintage Turkish State Railways DE11000 diesel locos with smaller 300kW diesel engines plus 400kW of lithium-ion battery power. The resultant hybrids are able to run on either or both power sources as required.

DB Regio H3 operating in battery mode at Nuremberg Hbf on 13 December 2016. (Keith Fender)

Alstom has been building diesel-battery hybrid locos designed for trip freights, shunting industrial plants and empty stock moves in Germany for five years. The ‘H3’ three axle design equipped with Nickel-Cadmium batteries has sold fairly well and is in use in Germany and central Europe. A bigger four axle development of the technology – the ‘H4’ – has been developed, but the only order so far for Swiss Railways (SBB), who have ordered 47 Class Aem 940 locos for infrastructure trains. These are classic electro-diesels equipped with two Caterpillar C18 diesel engines.

In 2017, CAF announced it had won a contract to supply twelve 1,000kW electric/battery hybrid locos to Paris metro and rail operator RATP to operate engineering trains on the RER network. The locos will be produced at CAF’s French plant and incorporate ten tonnes of nickel-cadmium batteries, as well as traditional pantographs for overhead power collection.

Battery power for passenger trains

Hitachi has announced plans to develop battery-powered trains for the UK market and has already delivered them in Japan. The wider Hitachi group is already a major automotive battery supplier and Hitachi Rail Europe has previously said it expects the rail market to piggyback the developments in battery technology for road transport; the market for which, on a global scale, is many times bigger than the market for rail.

The company has been developing hybrid and battery technology since 2003, largely in Japan. In 2007, it fitted a Class 43 HST power car with battery technology and ran trials in the UK in partnership with Network Rail. The train, named Hayabusa, completed over 100,000 km. The result was a 15 per cent fuel saving and a silent and emission-free movement out of stations.

In 2017, Hitachi delivered the BEC819 series ‘DENCHA’ (Dual Energy Charge Train) BEMU to Japanese operator JR Kyushu. Now in passenger service, it is operating for 50km route on battery power, between recharges.

Hitachi is now planning to add batteries to its UK bi-mode trains, which will be used alongside diesel engines to form a tri-mode hybrid power system. Hitachi expects not only to boost acceleration rates, but to cut fuel consumption (and costs) by 10 per cent or more. Hitachi also point out that batteries can benefit station environments too. Using them for initial operation in and out of busy stations can cut noise and air pollution, which is highly significant as air quality at some UK stations breaches safe legal limits significantly due to diesel emissions.

Siemens battery train on test in Austria.

Siemens, using lithium-titanate battery units, and Bombardier (lithium-ion batteries) are already testing battery equipped EMUs in Germany and Austria respectively.

Alstom’s new iLint hydrogen-powered train, which is now in service in Germany, is a hydrogen/battery hybrid with a sophisticated control system that uses batteries to store energy from regenerative braking and minimise fuel-cell load variations. As hydrogen fuel has a greater energy density than batteries, it clearly has some passenger multiple-unit applications and has also been used for shunting locos in America and China. However, it currently seems unlikely that hydrogen will have any major role in locomotive design.

Stadler has developed and sold battery-equipped versions of its Flirt EMU – 55 battery/15kV AC overhead power trains for use by NAH.SH (the public transport system in Schleswig-Holstein) in northern Germany and 24 tri-mode 25kV AC/ diesel and battery versions for use in the Welsh valleys by Transport for Wales.

Batteries with everything?

The convergence of differing propulsion systems, with both electric traction equipment and even diesel engines becoming more compact and needing less space in a locomotive car body, plus the likely future development of battery technology, could lead to the disappearance of ‘simple’ diesel or electric locos. If batteries are cheap and powerful enough, they can power movements in depots or assist with self-rescue for failures and could become standard.

One major European freight operator calculated that simply restarting an older, 1960s vintage diesel loco and moving it from one end of a yard to the other costs around £50 a time! With batteries, such costs disappear.

Battery technology for transport use is developing rapidly, and billions are being spent by the automotive industry to enable this. The UK Automotive Council estimate that the energy density of batteries could quadruple by 2035, yet even this is only one tenth of the energy density of diesel.

Hence, for more demanding rail applications such as heavy freight, high speed trains or even high-frequency metro-style services, it is unlikely that batteries will ever have a major role – although anyone re-reading this in 2050 might know better!