"Wallbox" for battery trains is now being tested in Annaberg-Buchholz

Annaberg-Buchholz. With a new type of charging station, experts from the Railroad Research Campus SRCC to help jump-start the switch from diesel to battery-powered trains. The "wallbox" for trains will be tested in Annaberg-Buchholz for a year and will then be available to trains in regular operation in 2024, SRCC Managing Director Sören Claus told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. According to the plan, individual battery trains on the Leipzig-Chemnitz line will then continue to Annaberg and be charged there.

Just over 60 percent of the German rail network is electrified. Diesel vehicles have been running on the remaining lines without overhead lines up to now. To protect the climate, they are to be replaced in the future by trains powered by batteries or hydrogen. Battery-powered trains can usually be charged via current collectors on existing overhead lines, for example during a stop at the station. But that is not possible everywhere, Claus emphasized. He estimates that a high double-digit number of separate charging stations will be needed nationwide.

The researchers' task is to create an interface between the railroad's power grid and the rest of the power grid without overloading this grid when charging the trains. The railroad's power grid operates at a frequency of 16.7 instead of 50 hertz. A symmetry converter in the new station ensures that the outgoing power grid is used evenly over three phases, Claus explained. This is the first charging station of its kind in Europe. According to the information, several million euros have gone into the development.

The plant was scheduled to open on Thursday at the Digital Rail Convention Conference will be presented to the expert public and officially go into operation. On Friday, school groups and interested members of the public will be able to find out more about the work at the research campus. Lectures on the mobility of the future are planned, for example, as well as simulated rides on the TGV and presentations of current rail vehicles by companies. According to Claus, classes with more than 200 students have already registered for the event. (dpa)