As we try to balance the economic recovery post-Covid with our decarbonization targets it is increasingly apparent that re-using and upcycling must be the new norm. Throwing away and buying new impacts people and the environment – and indeed it is a modern phenomenon, mainly in the industrialized world. Throughout history, and where resources are scarce, people make full life use of their belongings, and when their primary purpose is complete, move them to a different use.
My grandmother’s cupboard, for example, was stocked with cut-up shirts that she re-purposed as cleaning cloths. My own has microfiber cloths which I bought, thinking I was doing the right thing to cut down on chemicals, only to find out they leach microplastics into the oceans. As the adage says, you can’t do right for doing wrong.
But right now, in the rail industry, we have the opportunity to do the right thing. Save money, decarbonize, make best use of resources and keep our passengers happy – simply by using our existing rolling stock in new, smart ways.
At Vivarail we already know the value of this approach. Our Class 230 and Class 484 trains were born from D78 trains. These trains, used previously on London’s District Line, were due to be taken out of service and scrapped ahead of time to allow for the introduction of an upgraded signaling system. It of course made sense to do that as part of a wider program but, just as with my cleaning cloth, doing right for one thing had consequences. The D78s were built with lightweight aluminum bodyshells which were corrosion-free, and our independent analysis showed they had 20+ years’ life left in them.
So, we bought them, we stripped them fully back, retaining only the bodyshell and bogies as our starting point. Then we rebuilt them with new equipment, including new traction motors, passenger information systems, windows, software, wiring, Wi-Fi and so on. To all intents and purposes, they are new trains – and passenger feedback is that they are perceived exactly that way.
As a company we therefore started life with a notable green advantage, and we carried that on with our work to develop emission-free trains. In our case by working with batteries and charging systems. We designed and built our own traction package comprising batteries, power electronics, traction control, battery management, Fast Charge and power storage banks. Below the floor of the train everything is housed in rafts, so the equipment can easily be swapped in and out for general maintenance, repairs, replacement or upgrade.
Which leads to the bigger picture: across the UK alone there are thousands of half-life diesel trains still with many years left in them but obviously not in line with our Net Zero targets. So what do you do? Scrap them and build new electric trains? That way you are wasting precious energy and resources so can it really be called a green approach?
We believe not, our own work has shown that you can successfully retraction diesel trains to become emission-free battery trains. These trains can then run for up to 100km between charges and recharge, using our Fast Charge (which was covered in the launch issue of Electric & Hybrid Rail Technology here) in only 10 minutes. We call it electrification by other means because it delivers a wholly electrified network without the need to install catenary, a lengthy and expensive process.
If we are going to achieve Net Zero it is initiatives such as this, and the work being done to develop other types of emission-free systems, that need to happen and happen soon. Rail is already the greenest form of transport but that doesn’t mean it can stand still. Scrapping good quality trains that just happen to run on diesel simply for the pleasure of building new electric trains is not an environmentally friendly approach. Thinking differently, and doing more for less, is.
Next generation
Vivarail will be launching its next-gen battery train at COP 26 in Glasgow this November, showcasing the best of new, green technology and how simple steps can help change the world. Find out more here.