GREAT Western Railway has agreed a deal to purchase Vivarail assets that will allow it to proceed with in-service trials of the collapsed company’s pioneering battery-electric Class 230 unit, originally due to begin last year.
The project – the first of its kind, utilising Vivarail’s patented ‘Fast Charge’ system (which will use a conductor rail installed in the bay platform at West Ealing, activated by the presence of the train, to recharge the batteries), was initially delayed by challenges posed by the train and infrastructure. Hopes of a January 2023 launch were then dashed when Vivarail entered administration.