FLIRT Akku: continues where the overhead line ends
Modern trains do not have to run on diesel on routes without overhead lines. Powerful batteries can reliably supply trains with electricity over sections free of CO₂ emissions. Stadler's battery-electric multiple units (BEMU) are designed for non-electrified or only partially electrified lines and are therefore versatile.
On sections of track with overhead lines, the trains run electrically with the pantograph raised and charge the batteries. At the same time, braking energy is used for charging. Where the overhead line ends, the trains continue their journey in battery mode.
With the FLIRT Akku, the battery-electric variant of the best-selling FLIRT, Stadler built the world's first battery train approved for passenger use back in 2017.
The vehicle concept is largely based on the tried-and-tested FLIRT electric multiple units for operation under overhead lines. The FLIRT Akku is a single-deck lightweight aluminium construction and can be built in two- to four-car train compositions. In series production, the FLIRT Akku, like the FLIRT, can be flexibly and individually adapted to the respective needs of customers and the route network. Multiple traction with purely electric single and double-decker vehicles is also possible.
How does a train run on battery power?
The FLIRT Akku is the battery-operated version of the FLIRT series, which runs either in the classic way with pantographs under contact wire or in battery mode. State-of-the-art traction batteries replace diesel engines on short and medium-length sections.
Specifications
- Operating range in battery mode
- up to 150 km
- Top speed
- max. 160 km/h
- Charging time under overhead line
- 15 minutes
- Seats
- 120-180
Gap closure on lines without overhead wire
In many countries, a large proportion of the rail network is not electrified. In the EU member states, the average is just 46 per cent. And in Germany around 40 per cent are still not electrified. 80 per cent of these lines without overhead lines are 80 kilometres or shorter. The FLIRT Akku was developed to close these gaps in the rail network with sustainable electricity and can replace diesel vehicles on secondary lines without overhead lines.
FLIRT Akku prototype - World record holder in battery mode
Back in 2017, Stadler, together with Technische Universität Berlin and EWE AG , launched a research programme funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to jointly develop and test the battery equipment for a multiple-unit train that can operate flexibly and with zero local CO₂ emissions on non-electrified routes using purely electric power. Where diesel vehicles are still in use today, environmentally friendly and energy-efficient vehicles can be deployed in the future. The three-car prototype offers space for 310 passengers, including 154 seated passengers. The FLIRT battery prototype is being used to test and continuously develop the technology.
FLIRT Akku saves 10 million litres of diesel a year in Schleswig-Holstein alone
In mid-2019, Stadler won a tender from the Schleswig-Holstein local transport association for 55 FLIRT Akku trains for 600 million euros - one of the largest orders for battery trains in Germany. This world's first battery-electric train fleet has been in regular service since October 2023. Thanks to these battery-powered trains, the federal state has the second-highest proportion of electrification among Germany's federal states: 68 per cent of all routes are now electrified. The ecological advantage: around 10.4 million train kilometres are "de-dieselled". This saves 10 million litres of diesel and around 26,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year.
The FLIRT battery-powered multiple-unit trains will soon enable emission-free operation on non-electrified lines in other German federal states as well as in Austria, Denmark, Lithuania and the USA.
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