International Railroad Discussion > Japanese "hybrid" train......

Japanese hybrid train fights global warming

By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer

(Note the misuse of "conductor" instead of "engineer")

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070729/ap_on_bi_ge/japan_hybrid_train_5;_ylt=ApC3LA2h7keYYjulhnw0SrwE1vAI

Winding past rice paddies and lazily blowing its whistle along bubbly creeks, this two-car train in rural northern Japan is the latest entrant in the battle against global warming.

Following its runaway success with hybrid cars, Japan is bringing the world hybrid trains. Regular passenger runs are set to begin Tuesday on a short mountain route, the first time a diesel-electric hybrid train will be put into commercial service.

"It's part of our efforts to be green," Yasuaki Kikuchi, a spokesman for East Japan Railway Co., said Friday, on board an exclusive trial run for The Associated Press.

Compared to cars, trains are a relatively small contributor to global warming. But the popularity of hybrid cars, such as Toyota Motor Corp.'s best-selling Prius, is helping to boost interest in hybrid trains. Railway companies around the world, including Amtrak in the United States and Germany's Deutsche Bahn AG, are working on or investigating the technology.

Cost remains a major hurdle. The Kiha E200 train, which boosts fuel efficiency by 20 percent and reduces emissions by up to 60 percent, cost nearly $1.7 million, twice as much as a standard train, Kikuchi said.

It has a diesel engine, two electric motors under each car and lithium ion batteries on the roof.

With the word "hybrid" splashed in silver across its side, the otherwise normal-looking train rolls quietly out of Nakagomi station, powered by its four electric motors.

The diesel engine only kicks in with a rumble when needed to climb a hill or if the batteries run low.

The batteries are recharged when the train slows down. After the power is switched off, the motors continue to turn for a while, and that energy — wasted in a non-hybrid train — is used to recharge the batteries.

Besides the usual buttons and dials, the conductor also faces a touch-panel monitor. Arrows show which way energy is flowing, connecting boxes that represent the engine, generator, motor, battery, busily changing direction every few minutes. Whether cars or trains, hybrids delicately balance the two sources of power, relying on a computer to minimize waste.

The Kiha E200, which seats 46 and can hold 117 people including straphangers, is debuting on a 49-mile route that runs about once an hour through a mountain resort area.

East Japan Railway will gather data on fuel consumption, which is expected to vary with different passenger loads, maintenance needs and winter heating, said company engineer Mitsuyoshi Yokota.

In North America, Railpower Technologies Corp. has developed a hybrid train called the Green Goat for moving freight cars in a rail yard.

But industry efforts are focused on developing cleaner fuels for non-hybrid trains, said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a trade association representing engine and equipment manufacturers.

"Here in the U.S., we're not really looking at hybrid technology as replacing the main locomotive," he said.

Railways contribute just 4 percent of U.S. transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming.

Hybrid trains have long been viewed as unpractical because it's cumbersome to get the various parts to work together. But they are catching on thanks to hybrid cars, said Makoto Arisawa, an ecology professor and train expert at Keio University in Tokyo.

"Maybe we can't expect too much from a railway this small," he said. "For the technology to be effective, it must become more widespread."

That didn't stop Hitomi Shimizu, 29, who runs a nearby inn, from showing up at Nakagomi station to get a snapshot of herself next to the train.

"I'm so proud of being part of a community with a train that's gentle to the environment," she said.

I was just about to post this very article, I guess you beat me to it!

Hitachi have also been developing in the UK a hybrid version of the British 125mph High Speed Train, as a joint project with Brush and Network Rail. Here are some shots of it being tested on the Great Central Railway, a preserved heritage line in Leicestershire which has a 60mph speed limit. I believe the unit has now been transferred to full speed testing on the main line. The pics were taken from the footplate of a steam locomotive, on which I was having a day's driving experience with some friends. I'll post the rest of these soon.
Cheers, Paul

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This has always puzzled me: Why is a standard diesel-electric locomotive not considered to be a hybrid?

ProRail Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This has always puzzled me: Why is a standard
> diesel-electric locomotive not considered to be a
> hybrid?


To be a hybrid the locomotive would have to return the power generated by dynamic braking to a set of batteries for later use rather than dissipating it through a bank of resistors. The point of hybrid technology is to use the power, not just to create it. Electric trains that run under catenary have been able to return power generated through braking to the grid for many years. Supposedly the first train over the Milwaukee Rocky Mountain electric district generated so much power going downhill that the power company owed the railroad (rather than the other way around) for power used on the trip.

Here are links to JR East news release on Kiha E 200 Class in Japanese.

http://www.jreast.co.jp/press/2007_1/20070704.pdf

On the 31st of July is the very first working day for new cars. Until Sept 2nd, they will be in regular service between Obushizawa and Komuro, a scenic mountain mountain line.

Hope this helps

Hiroshi

BobB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProRail Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This has always puzzled me: Why is a standard
> > diesel-electric locomotive not considered to be
> a
> > hybrid?
>
>
> To be a hybrid the locomotive would have to return
> the power generated by dynamic braking to a set of
> batteries for later use rather than dissipating it
> through a bank of resistors. The point of hybrid
> technology is to use the power, not just to create
> it. Electric trains that run under catenary have
> been able to return power generated through
> braking to the grid for many years. Supposedly
> the first train over the Milwaukee Rocky Mountain
> electric district generated so much power going
> downhill that the power company owed the railroad
> (rather than the other way around) for power used
> on the trip.

Cool. I'm glad I asked.