Battery specialist wins high-speed rail contract

Battery specialist HOPPECKE Industrial Batteries has won a contract with Siemens Transportation Systems who built and maintain the Heathrow Express high-speed trains. Primarily aimed at executives, the Heathrow Express uses a dedicated line from Paddington to Heathrow and gets passengers from door to door in just 15 minutes. The service provides a business class experience for passengers, featuring telephones, air conditioning, on-board entertainment and news. Capable of travelling at 100 miles per hour and operating between 0530 and 2310 every day, the Heathrow Express trains were built 12 years ago. Although a correctly used and well maintained battery has a shelf life of between 12-18 years, it was decided to replace all 14 batteries to ensure a reliable service. In terms of design, the 75 cells that make up each battery needed to fit into the original battery rafts from the previous batteries. HOPPECKE created a design to accommodate the size of the original rafts. This also involved the careful fitting of spacers to ensure the secure fit of the cells into each raft. The batteries supplied are Fibre Nickel Cadmium (FNC) 320 MR2 type, which provide excellent performance and are 75 per cent lighter that a lead-based battery. With trends towards lighter trains for maximum efficiency the FNC batteries are ideal. Siemens Transportation Systems, who built and service the trains, carry out all maintenance work from the purpose-built Traincare facility at Old Oak Common, North London. Garry Bachelor, project manager at Siemens, said: “When looking to replace the batteries it became apparent that battery technology had moved on since the originals had been designed and they had also changed in size. In order to make the new batteries fit into the original rafts we needed a specialist design.” He added: “HOPPECKE Industrial Batteries offered us a solution and were preferred supplier due to their flexibility in design. Essentially they gave us a bespoke service at a competitive price.” Paul Butchart, special power manager at HOPPECKE, explained: “The HOPPECKE batteries are made from top of the range materials to ensure that they meet V0 fire standards which are essential when used on a train due to the hazard of fire in tunnels. They are also supplied with a central topping up system which means they can be topped up by the use of a simple pump trolley in a quick and efficient way to reduce time and maintenance.” He added: “We are pleased to have been preferred supplier to such a well recognised brand. This contract is a testament to the work HOPPECKE does as a solutions provider." - - - ENDS - - - High resolution image to support release: click here

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