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Overhead wires take quite a while to plan and build and for non-frequent service (1tph) and/or short trains installation costs and maintenance are quite high co
by danhor 3y ago
Overhead wires take quite a while to plan and build and for non-frequent service (1tph) and/or short trains installation costs and maintenance are quite high compared to buying e.g. BEMUs. Many of these services are shuttle runs with electrification at one or both ends and route lengths of less than 100km, so e.g. a Mireo Plus B with ~120 seats only a 580kWh battery (or less than 6 Tesla Model X batteries ) is used (https://www.vde.com/resource/blob/1979350/a41e9c3559af76fee9c91befbc1e9216/studie-klimaneutrale-alternative-zu-dieseltriebzuegen-data.pdf https://www.vde.com/resource/blob/1979350/a41e9c3559af76fee9... page 24)
HEMUs for these types of services I don't understand. It's laudable that transit providers want to get away from fossil fuels (and putting up overhead wire is a long and arduous process, fraught with delays), but getting hydrogen today almost certainly isn't "green". Maybe "Technologieoffenheit" virtue signalling.
But looking at the plans of various german transit agencies for future service on non-electrified lines, it's pretty obvious that hydrogen has already lost for rail-based transit, with almost every tender that doesn't prescribe a technology going to BEMUs and studies showing that BEMUs and partial electrification or full electrification almost always makes more sense than HEMUs
- thriftwy 3y agoOptimizing ecological impact of non-frequent services leads to diminishing gains. In this case, a diesel train you already have may be the best option.
- _hypx 3y agoBEMUs make zero sense. Just electrify the full route. You eliminate all battery related costs by doing this, nearly guaranteeing it will be cheaper in the long-run. I get the feeling that Germany is overran with "consultants" who are playing games with finances or are trying to harvest subsidies. The whole story feels like propaganda intended to defend against some kind of scam.