David Horton is the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Fast Charge Battery Train Trial (FCBTT) at GWR. The trial currently involves a single 3-car Class 230 battery train and its first-of-a-kind ground-based automatic ‘Fast Charging’ system, which is powerful enough to recharge the train in a matter of minutes. The system is suitable for branch lines and secondary routes where direct electrification is unlikely to be viable and there isn’t a high volume of mixed traffic. It is a means of decarbonising the fringes of the rail network, which currently rely on diesel trains. The system also brings other benefits such as air quality improvements, and reduction in noise, through the elimination of diesel trains.

Light refreshments will be served from 17:30 with the talk starting at 18:00.

Attendees are encouraged to attend in-person to take advantage of networking and engagement with our speaker. An online option will be provided using Teams. Meeting joining instructions will be emailed separately to tickets closer to the event.