A converted ex-District line London Underground train operated solely on batteries to complete a 200-mile return journey from Reading, via Paddington (twice) and Oxford. The trial surpassed the previous battery-powered rail distance record of 139 miles. Officials from the Rail Performance Society witnessed and verified the achievement. The trial aimed to test battery viability as an alternative to diesel on unelectrified branch lines and to assess routine range needs of around 60 miles. A White Paper from GWR reported trials proving battery trains as a viable diesel alternative while fleet renewal planning begins for aging regional trains.
The train is an ex-District line train that has been converted to run on battery power, and has been running trials to see if that would be a viable way of replacing polluting diesel trains on branch lines where full electrification of the railway is not viable. Although aimed at shorter branch lines, the old tube train had enough battery power for much longer trips, such as between Reading and Paddington.
And last night, they tried it out - completing 200 miles on a return journey from Reading Train Care Depot, which took in London Paddington (twice) and Oxford. That was enough to smash the previous record of 139 miles achieved by Stadler Deutschland in Berlin in 2021. Officials from the Rail Performance Society, an organisation dedicated to recording and studying the performance of railways and railway traction in the UK, were on board to witness and verify the new world record.
Collection
[
|
...
]