Hungary to introduce zero-emission hybrid trains within the next decade
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Within the next ten years, The Hungarian State Railways (MÁV-Start) plans the replacement of the recently used BZ-Mot diesel-powered railway trains – which have been running since the 1970s – for the most modern zero-emission vehicles.
As the Hungarian news portal Origo reports, these will be powered by a pantograph on the overhead lines and by an internal battery on the non-electrified sections.
As the railway company writes in its announcement, basically two types of vehicles can be diversified in the case of double-acting multiple units.
- diesel-electric and electric overhead line hybrid multiple units;
- hybrid electric multiple units with zero emissions (pollutants), which may be either battery and overhead electric trains, or, e.g. hydrogen-powered (fuel cell) vehicles.
Of these, MÁV-Start intends to procure battery-powered double-acting electric vehicles.
This technology is a novelty worldwide, and over the next ten years, the goal is for these low-end vehicles to serve passengers on low-traffic extension lines instead of the current diesel-powered trains.
MÁV-Start has launched a European Union public procedure for the procurement of twenty 200-seats and thirty 150-seats new, zero-emission hybrid electric motor trains. The 200-seat vehicles are scheduled to arrive in 2023-2024, while the 150-seat trains will probably get to Hungary between 2024 and 2029.
