Breeze for Teesside and battery ‘331s’ for Windermere
NORTHERN HAS submitted plans to the Department for Transport to introduce hydrogen trains on Teesside and Class 331s fitted with batteries on the Windermere branch. It is understood business cases for both proposals have been submitted to DfT’s Rail Investment Board for approval.
The operator is working with Alstom and Eversholt Rail, which are developing a hydrogen conversion of Class 321 EMUs, named ‘Breeze’. The work, which would take place at Alstom’s Widnes plant, would involve shortening four-car units to three-car and giving over some of the space within the passenger saloons to the necessary equipment to provide hydrogen power. A three-car Breeze set is expected to have a similar passenger capacity to a two-car DMU.
