MTU and Deutsche Bahn test hybrid train

With MTU‘s Hybrid Powerpack, up to 25 percent less fuel consumption and emissionfree travel are possible. That is why Deutsche Bahn and MTU are currently testing a Series 642 commuter railcar driven by the prototype of a Hybrid Powerpack developed by MTU. The purpose of the test is to demonstrate that this technology is suitable for day-to-day operations and has ecological and economic advantages over state-of-the-art solutions. Aschaffenburg/Miltenberg: Hybrid drive systems provide an opportunity to considerably reduce fuel consumption. This is a technology that can particularly benefit applications in which a large percentage of the power is consumed by auxiliary drive units. That applies to construction and agricultural machinery, but is also the case for trains, especially those used in local transport. “Local trains reach relatively high top speeds and run on lines with short intervals between stops. These are the kind of vehicles in which hybrid drives can really demonstrate their strengths,“ explained MTU project leader Ingo Lehmann.