Hybrid Class 37 project among 'First of a Kind' funding round

摘要

A PROGRAMME to demonstrate the potential for converting main line diesel locomotives to hybrid electric power is to benefit from almost ￡400,000 of funding from the latest round of the Department for Transport's 'First of a Kind'(FOAK) competition. Meteor Power Ltd entered the railway sector having built on years of experience in racing and developing superbikes and high-performance engine upgrades. Thanks to FOAK funding in 2019, the business - based at Silverstone racing circuit in Northamptonshire - completed a hybrid rebuild of Class 08 shunting locomotive No. 08649. It featured a generator-charged battery pack, which is also capable of storing energy from regenerative braking, and resulted in a locomotive claimed to have more precise control and up to twice the power of a traditional Class 08.