Vivarail's 'D Train' - 'D' stock reborn

Quoting from a.n.other forum

Tfws 230s seem.to be getting their act together. One of their staff said on one of the Facebook groups said 230010 did a full days service instead of swapping over at 1230 like usual.

Tfws 230s are the batteries getting too hot. Sort that problem out znd you should get a lot of the issues out of the way

Oh good, as I'll be visiting Bidston tomorrow (6th Feb) and hope to see at least one there. Not sure if I'll get a ride in it however, as my Merseyrail ticket wont be valid.  

I had a rail only day saver


It was very difficult at Bidston. Not just with the rain on my camera lens but two 230 trains at the same time - I did not know which way to point my camera as the island platform was too wide for decent views of them both at the same time!

Then the guard of the train enterimg service said I had 2 minutes if I wanted to look inside .... I took up her offer!

Afterwards i was just about able to get to see blue grey 507001 on the Northern line to Southport.

Photos to vome, most likely Wednesday as I am still on the Avanti train to Euston and its running late after a long station stop at Crewe

Nice to see the photos of trains that I used to travel on in London during my employment on London Underground, thanks Simon

230001 due to head to Reading depot shortly. Think they gotta charge it up first. Test runs getting good feedback. Getting 70 miles between charges with energy still left over in the batteries

An earlier post on this thread mentioned a GWR presentation to the IMEE about the Greenford branch Fast Charging Trial which has been available on YouTube since last November. -

Suffice to say I had missed this video completely, but having now watched it twice, it is perhaps worth noting that it contained several observations which may help understand where this trial might lead.

First and foremost the Greenford trial is not really about demonstrating the Class 230 rolling stock, it is actually about testing and proving the fast charging solution which had been developed by VivaRail, and which GWR subsequently purchased the intellectual property rights to (along with sundry other stuff) from the VivaRail administrators. In turn that purchase was funded by D/Transport who doubtless might be interested in its wider availability beyond the GWR network.

Also despite some earlier negotiations with UK rail regulators (RSSB) and other initiatives by VivaRail, thus far the former VivaRail Fast Charging system has not been endorsed as a UK wide standard. Hopefully this trial will move things along but currently it seems a fair way off being endorsed as such.

The presentation highlighted an important component of the project which I had not come across before. Namely the development and testing by VivaRail of the BTNS (Battery Train Network Simulator). Basically it allows operators to accurately calculate and model how much energy is left in each train as it works through its day.

As appropriate the system can be manually or automatically tweeked to account for expected loadings, and different driving styles. It seems getting drivers to trust regenerative braking to deliver the majority of any braking is an important factor in range.

The system also automatically takes into account expected hotel load (heating/AC) reflecting observed outside temperature inputs and only assumes a degraded battery capacity typical of that expected after 10 years use - so for most of its life trains will still have a fair bit of reserve capacity.

BTNS can then determine how often and how much charging time is actually be required to ensure the train has ample capacity to complete its next expected duty cycle, plus adequate reserve capacity to cover unforseen events be they a delay linked to the unit itself, or to delays due to other problems affecting the planned route. All the BTNS data has already been validated against previous test meaurement data, and will be further refined and validated with the 12 months data expected from the Greenford trial.

I suspect BTNS data will be of significant value not just to GWR but to any train manufacturers looking to offer battery trains in the UK.

The presentation also included maps showing that GWR have begun looking at the scope to extend the use of battery trains within the GWR network, and as maintainence facilities for the Greenford trial are being installed at Reading, they have so far focused on branch lines in the vicinity of Reading rather than more remote branches in Corawall. They believe that if all the Thames Valley routes went to battery powered units they would need a common fleet of 7 or 8 battery trains.

As they already have 230001 available this ideal would entail somehow providing a further 6 or 7 further battery trains. If we focus on 3 car Class 230 battery units, the big question is where would they come from?

The three former Marston Vale units are probably the best starting point although they were only created as 2 car units (23003-23005). The cabs have already been strengthened and interiors have already been extensively upgraded to modern rolling stock standards even including accessible toilet facilities. Major work would still be needed to replace the diesel engines, generators and fuel tanks from the under body rafts and install batteries, fast charging pick ups and associated control gear. Each modified unit also would need creation of a matching trailer car, so again is not a quick or cheap process.

Together with 230001 – the Greenford trial unit, you would then have a fleet of 4 units. The big question is where could further battery trains be created assuming GWR really want a common fleet. Perhaps the most obvious answer may be to buy and modify the TFW units which to be honest have not been super reliable on the Bidston line. I suspect TFW may be very happy to sell them.

After that I do not believe it credible that GWR would ever contemplate building further completely new Class 230 units despite the rolling stock inventory they inherited from the administrators. I suspect GWR would then go out to tender for new battery train stock built taking into account all the lessons learned from the class 230 trials as this would hopefully avoid some of the shortcomings of running Class 230s - like having to block off public use of the outermost doors because they do not have selective door control.

A short video where the trains can be seen and heard in action





Much went wrong when filming this - the train that came first was running early and I was looking in the opposite direction in anticipation of the other train. I had rainwater on my camera lens and some of the footage is somewhat unsteady. Also, the video editing software on my computer kept crashing when I was editing this footage

news.gwr.com/news/great-western-railways-battery-train-sets-new-distance-record



230.001 has arrived at Reading depot:

Is the musical accompaniment to hide the fact that it still has the iconic sound of electric traction, which corporate types no doubt find embarrassing and 'dated'?

Part of the assumption is that the transfer to GWR included a significant number of carriages. The design is well suited to short, self contained, branches and offers significant cost advantages over new build now that the product development work has been done.

Whether those branches are best served by trains that are effectively unusable off branch due to their restricted speed, and whether small fleets are the right long term solution, is a different question.

Love the massive sign about what to do if it goes south.

Yes, very dramatic! I guess there have to be fire precautions with high currents and batteries!



Thank you

Incidentally it was making a whirring fan noise most of the time - roughly captured in these videos

While GWR train staff and West Ealing platform staff will I presume have been given at least basic safety training with regards the new system the same cannot be said for other staff. It may actually be more of an issue for any staff who are third (or fourth) rail trained as (AIUI) the way to get power turned off on those networks is to make an emergency call to the signaller or line controller (who will make an emergency call to the power control room) rather than to turn the power off themselves locally.