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DESCRIPTION:Near You Event - Battery Powered Trains - A Diesel Free Future?
 \n\nEvent Type: Talk or debate\n\nIndustry Sector: Railway\n\nSpeak Detail
 s: Andrew Skinner BEng CEng FIMechE MIET CompIRSE CMILT ACIRO\nHead of Eng
 ineering\, Great Western Railway\nPast Chair of IMechE's Railway Division 
 and IMechE Council Leadership Committee member.\n\nDescription : Battery\n
 Powered Trains - A Diesel Free Future?\n\nVirtual: Please note that the li
 nk to join the meeting will be provided separately to the booking confirma
 tion email. The link will be sent before the event to your email used to r
 egister for the event.\n\nThe talk will be on: \nThe GWR Fast Charge Batte
 ry Train Trial is a project to test an automated ground-based charging sys
 tem for battery trains. The system was originally invented by Vivarail Ltd
 \, which went into administration at the end of 2022. However\, with suppo
 rt from the DfT and GWR\, the project was revived. The Fast-Charging syste
 m is located adjacent to bay platform 5 at West Ealing station\, where the
  branch line from Greenford terminates. The train takes a charge every tim
 e it visits West Ealing station to replenish the energy used in the previo
 us round trip. The charging time at West Ealing is approximately 4 minutes
 \, no more than the normal turnaround time within the existing timetable. 
 Other than a requirement to stop the train in the right place\, the chargi
 ng system requires no involvement from the driver. The purpose of the tria
 l was to verify the behaviour of the Fast-Charging system through all seas
 ons\, to accumulate valuable data and experience about battery life in par
 ticular\, and to validate range and performance simulations of the train w
 ith &lsquo\;real world&rsquo\; data. The battery train itself is a 3-car v
 ariant of the Class 230\; also designed and built originally by Vivarail\,
  converted from former London Underground D78 stock. It was approved for l
 imited demonstration passenger-carrying use during the two-week COP26 clim
 ate change conference in Glasgow in November 2021. Implementation of the F
 ast Charge modifications started shortly afterwards\, and now it is owned 
 and maintained by GWR. The system is a means of decarbonising the fringes 
 of the rail network\, which currently rely on diesel trains. The system al
 so brings other benefits such as air quality improvements and reduction in
  noise through the elimination of diesel trains.\nThe Hybrid Event is FREE
  and open to all\nTo book please use either the link or the QR code below.
 \n\n\n\n\nContact Details: Marco Baretta\nAddress: United Kingdom.\n\n Alt
 ernative Contact: Tom Scaramuzza\nAddress: United Kingdom.
DTEND:20251211T184500
DTSTAMP:20260808T015700Z
DTSTART:20251211T173000
LOCATION:Hybrid - Live: The Quadrant: MK - Virtual: in your own home.\, Eld
 er Gate\, Milton Keyens\, MK9 1 EN\, United Kingdom
SEQUENCE:0
SUMMARY:Battery Powered Trains - A Diesel Free Future?
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