For those totally unelectrified sections, you need something like hydrogen trains. This allows you to go hundreds of miles without power. But battery trains req

For those totally unelectrified sections, you need something like hydrogen trains. This allows you to go hundreds of miles without power. But battery trains require catenaries at both ends for charging anyways. And the limited range of battery trains implies that the unpowered sections must be very short, and could easily be electrified instead. Which is why this decision is nonsensical and seems like some kind of subsidy related scam. Whatever the motivation, it cannot be based in rational thought.