Southern and Southeastern introduce third rail
regenerative braking
19 May 2008
First regen train (377328) about to leave Brighton station. Southern MD Chris Burchell congratulates driver David Chalkley on the historic journey. Others in the photo include representatives for Network Rail, train manufacturer Bombardier, and project consultants, Booz Allen
Train operators Southern and Southeastern have become the first train operators in the country to introduce regenerative braking on the third rail DC network.
Southern and Southeastern are both operated by Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis.
After almost two years of planning and testing, the first Class 375, 377 and 376 Electrostar trains are now returning electricity back into the rail system when braking, allowing other trains to draw on that energy for power.
Until now, energy released by trains during braking has been wasted in heating the braking resistors on the train. Now any other train in close proximity will benefit from the electricity transferred back to the third rail.
Southern dual-voltage Class 377/2 Electrostar No 377213 slows for the West Brompton stop on 4 January 2008, forming a service from Watford Junction to Brighton. Brian Morrison
Southern's engineering director, Gerry McFadden said: "This represents the culmination of an intensive 18 month project delivered in a model cross-industry partnership between Southern, Southeastern, Network Rail, and train manufacturer Bombardier, with project management from Booz Allen." He added: "We also owe a debt of gratitude to the DfT and ATOC who have been instrumental in preparing the industry to take on the green agenda."
Keith Ludeman, chairman and chief executive of Govia said: "I am delighted that Govia is leading the way in the introduction of DC regenerative braking in UK rail. Southern and Southeastern's success in this area is an excellent example of the industry working together effectively to reduce rail's carbon footprint and deliver genuine innovation."
Editors Notes
One three-car Electrostar train can put enough power back into the system per year to save around 14 tonnes of carbon.
Overview of the Project
All companies have a responsibility to work to alleviate climate change, and responsibility is central to public transport companies. Southern and Southeastern take this responsibility very seriously, and reducing the carbon footprint of our trains is one way to help.
With regenerative braking electricity is generated by braking trains and transferred to other trains in the area. The introduction of regenerative braking onto our fleet of Electrostar trains is estimated to save enough electricity to power a small town, saving over 2,500 tonnes of carbon per year.
The implementation of this change marks the end of a 15 month project, which has been not only technically challenging, but has had many logistical issues associated with it. To deliver the project Southern and Southeastern bought in technical and management expertise from Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the world's leading strategy and technology consulting firms. The project team worked closely with Bombardier (the train manufacturer), Network Rail and the various safety approval bodies to develop a design solution that would not impact the safe and reliable operation of the railway. The principal technical challenge was to ensure that significant levels of energy were regenerated without impacting the ability of Network Rail's power supply system to work reliably and to detect faults. This was resolved through the joint design of train protection settings, detailed modelling of the behaviour of electrical sections on the Southern network, and the completion of a comprehensive infrastructure testing programme.
Final development of the design took place on the Dorking to Horsham branch line during January and February this year. The logistics associated with establishing the testing conditions and getting sufficient trains into the test site to absorb the regenerated energy without significantly impacting the provision of the train service was a major challenge for the project team.
Contact the Southern press office on 0208 929 8673 or E-mail press.office@southernrailway.com
Contact the Southeastern press office on 0207 620 5080 or Nigel.jarrett@southeasternrailway.co.uk
Southern is owned by Govia, the partnership between the Go-Ahead Group and Keolis. Govia is the most enduring partnership between transport operators delivering rail franchises in this country. Govia is the UK's busiest rail operator, responsible for 28.7 per cent of UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail companies, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland. Further information on Govia is available at www.govia.info
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