The NE Train (New Energy Train) The world's first Hybrid Railcar

摘要

East Japan Railway Company (JR East) has selected environmental protection as one of its Group Visions and is actively working to preserve the environment. Reduction of the amount of energy needed for train operations is an important issue in this respect and efforts are now being made to achieve a radical improvement. However, because regenerative brakes cannot be configured in diesel cars, their energy efficiency rate is less than that of electric trains. The Research & Development Center of the JR East Group has been developing an NE Train (New Energy Train) with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of railcar operation by renovating the propulsion system. As a first step, a test car has been built with a hybrid system, the first such railcar in the world. A series production hybrid system using lithium-ion batteries to store energy has been installed in this railcar. Tests have been conducted since May 2003 and the hybrid system has functioned almost as planned including from the standpoint of railcar performance and energy efficiency.