British Rail Class 600

The British Rail Class 600 Breeze is a proposed class of hydrogen fuel powered multiple unit to be built using the bodyshell of a Class 321 electric multiple unit.

British Rail Class 600 Breeze
The Class 600s will use the bodyshells of Class 321s
ManufacturerBritish Rail Engineering Limited as Class 321s
Alstom as Class 600.
Built atHolgate Road carriage works as Class 321s
Widnes as Class 600s
Family nameBR Second Generation (Mark 3)
Formation3 carriages
Specifications
Car body constructionSteel
Car length19.95 m (65 ft 5 in)
Width2.82 m (9 ft 3 in)
Height3.78 m (12 ft 5 in)
Engine typeHydrogen fuel cell
Coupling systemTightlock
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

History

In May 2018, Alstom and Eversholt Rail Group announced they planned to convert some withdrawn Greater Anglia Class 321 to hydrogen multiple units.[1] In January 2019, the Breeze concept was unveiled with the work to be performed at Alstom's Widnes facility.[2][3][4]

Alstom will draw on its experience with the Alstom Coradia iLint, the world's first hydrogen production train.[5][6]

In July 2020, Eversholt Rail and Alstom confirmed that the trains would be designated Class 600 with the first converted units targeted to enter service in 2024.[6][7] The prototype will be converted from 321448, the same unit used as the Renatus project prototype.[8]

References
  1. Alstom and Eversholt plan fuel cell EMUs Railway Gazette International 15 May 2018
  2. Breeze UK hydrogen multiple-unit proposal unveiled Railway Gazette International 7 January 2019
  3. Hydrogen-powered trains planned for UK from 2021 Rail issue 870 16 January 2019
  4. Alstom and Eversholt unveil Breeze Hydrogen unit Today's Railways UK issue 207 March 2019 page 8
  5. Eversholt Rail and Alstom to invest £1m in hydrogen trains International Railway Journal 22 July 2020
  6. Alstom Breeze hydrogen train designated Class 600 Railway Gazette International 22 July 2020
  7. "Breeze hydrogen Class 600". Modern Railways. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  8. Ex 321 demonstrator to be hydrogen pioneer Rail issue 917 18 November 2020
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.