We've had this discussion in a speculative sense before, but presumably that Welsh proposal will be with regards to the Valleys lines?
It's a climb up and a coast down most of them, so I'm curious to know if VivaRail have been developing regenerative braking into their battery unit. Seems like a great potential testbed for the concept.
Lots of interesting tidbits to take away from that announcement from the Welsh Assembly:
- They appear to have lost patience with Porterbrook - 769s (identified as coming online as of now, though we all know that is not the case) are earmarked for withdrawal as soon as 2022, assuming they are ever even procured. Biting the bullet and including 230s in those plans must surely be an acknowledgement of that.
- On that note, the 230s look to be in the medium term thinking at least, surviving to the end of the identified period (albeit by then in the cascade pool).
- Mk 4 coaching stock identified for the Assembly trains as opposed to Mk 3 upgrades or Mk. 5 stock.
- Non-specific "metro vehicles" due from 2021 - are there tram / S-Bahn schemes planned in any welsh cities?