So for pumped hydro you have a massive up front cost and potentially smaller maintenance. Maintaining a large number of moving parts for rail might seem daunti

So for pumped hydro you have a massive up front cost and potentially smaller maintenance. Maintaining a large number of moving parts for rail might seem daunting, but these rail cars are made to operate for very long periods of time in unpleasant conditions with minimal maintenance; topping up lubrication systems and visual inspection is basically covering monthly maintenance for the system. I am not sure what the ongoing maintenance cost for most hydro installations is (pipe inspections, anti-silting and other water maintenance, inspections of the system, etc.), but I had to guess I would say that it is probably quite similar to rail.