Hitachiballs - The IEP's 'green' credentials

This from Ithuriel...

Quoted in the Greenwise Weekly e-Newsletter

"One of the things that our trains will do is they will use less energy per feet than existing trains, because they’re lighter," said Hitachi Europe spokeswoman Daniela Karthaus.

"We will also have more capacity on the trains, so more passengers can travel on them, so that is going to be an environmental benefit."

Karthaus said the lighter trains will lessen the amount of material used in repairs as well.

"They will do very little damage to the tracks because they are lighter, which in turn means less replacement of tracks, which makes them hopefully more sustainable," she said.

But, even Captain Deltic's uncharacteristically uncritical review of the Hitachi SET in the latest Modern Railways has to concede that the five car bi-mode - which represents 70% of the proposed fleet - weighs 800kg per seat compared with only 730kg per seat for the IC125 it is supposed to replace.

Or, to put it another way, the super lightweight train extolled by Ms Karthaus weighs the same as a Voyager or Adelante which are generally regarded as heavy and not exactly track friendly, compared with, say, a Class 158.

UPDATE: This from Leo Pink...

Ithuriel is unkind to Meridians.

They may be heavy but, according to Bombardier, based on current variable track access charges a Meridian causes 10% less track damage than an IC125, 25% less than a Pendolino and 35% less than an IC225.

UPDATE: This from the tediously self promoting Captain Deltic...

This low track wear must be attributed in large part to the Meridian's inside frame FLEXX Eco bogie.

An article on the history of this bogie from its conception by British Rail Research to its selection for DB's new ICx train appears in this month's Informed... (Boring, boring, boring - next please. Ed)