At West Ealing, where the GWR technology will be trialed in a real-world environment for the first time this spring, the UK train will charge for just 3 ½ minutes before restarting its journey on the Greenford branch line. GWR has already carried out simulations on other branch lines in the Thames Valley to explore how it could be rolled out even further in the future. This could reduce GWR emissions alone by over 1,700 tons of CO2e per year. It is hoped the technology could one day see battery trains in operation across the UK’s approximately 2,000 miles of 80-plus branch lines.

Carolyn Fortuna