Great Western Railway is now operating a battery-powered train on the West Ealing to Greenford branch line, four stops and 12 minutes each way. It is a first step to replacing diesel trains on routes that have proved difficult or expensive to electrify with overhead wires.

UK’s first rapid-charging battery train | Gwyn Topham in the Guardian, 30 January 2026

Andrew W emails to say:

The Guardian failed to mention the real breakthrough. A three-minute load of 2500kW is not available from the grid. The charging station is a bigger battery that is re-charged a a sustainable rate and can [give] a huge boost to the train in minutes.

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Originally posted in Second Nature 052 (Feb 2026). Category transport, tags rail.
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