BOMBARDIER (Alstom) has announced it will install li-ion batteries on the first five of 700 AGC regional EMUs built at its Crespin plant in northern France for the French regions between 2005 and 2011 and powered by diesel, ahead of trials before the battery trains enter passenger service in 2023.
The AGC fleet comprises:
- 163 class X 76500 three or four-car DMUs
- 185 class B 81500 three or four-car bi-mode units (1.5kV dc plus diesel)
- 140 class B 82500 four-car bi-mode, dual-voltage units (1.5kV dc/25kV ac plus diesel), and
- 211 class Z 27500 three or four-car dual-voltage EMUs.
In 2019 the manufacturer announced that it would be ready to convert all 325 bi-mode class B AGC units to battery EMUs, replacing the two diesel engines with battery packs during mid-life refurbishment.
The €38.5m conversion will be financed by French National Railways (SNCF), which is contributing€6m, Bombardier (€5.5m) and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Hauts-de-France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions (€5.4m each).
The converted units will be tested on the Lyon – Bourg-en-Bresse, Bordeaux to Le Verdon and Saint Mariens, Nîmes – Le Grau-du-Roi, Marseille – Aix-en-Provence and Abancourt – Beauvais – Creil lines.
The batteries, which are guaranteed for 10 years, are expected to provide power for at least 80km.
Bombardier to begin conversion of ACG EMUs to battery operation, Jan 26, 2021
