A Vivarail battery-powered Class 230 is offering demonstration to rides to visitors to Glasgow for the COP26 climate change conference.
The three-car unit, No 230001, is based at Polmadie depot, where the batteries are recharged each night. The unit operates entirely under battery power, providing daily trips from Glasgow Central to Barrhead and return throughout the conference. In an event at Glasgow Central on 1 November the unit was named Viva Venturer.
The train is powered by six Hoppecke batteries, three beneath each driving vehicle, although at present only two are used with the third offering resilience. The range of the battery ‘230’ is estimated at 100km, although this is considered a cautious estimate with a view to maximising battery life. Vivarail says that for a two-car train operating on a 100-mile route the cost of battery operation is £2.20 per mile, as against £4.01 for a diesel train and £4.15 for a fuel cell train. The aim would be to deploy Vivarail’s fast charge s…
