IRELAND: Alstom has been awarded a contract to provide a fast-charging facility for the battery-electric multiple-units that it is to supply to Iarnród Éireann as part of the DART+ programme to enhance commuter services in the Greater Dublin area.
The charging equipment is to be installed on two platforms and one siding at Drogheda by end of 2024 and will include a medium voltage connection to the supply network and a traction substation. The substation will have energy storage to enhance availability and will provide a controlled current to recharge train batteries through rigid overhead rigid catenary and the pantograph.
This will enable the BEMUs entering service in 2025 to operate to and from Drogheda in advance of planned electrification of the line.
‘This investment will allow us to accelerate the benefits of DART+ to customers on the Drogheda commuter route, with a brand-new fleet and extra capacity to be provided in just two years’ time’, said IÉ CEO Jim Meade on August 11.
Alstom has 10-year framework agreement to supply up to 750 X’trapolis vehicles for Dublin commuter services, with firm orders for 37 five-car sets. Of these, 31 will be BEMUs and six electric only.
- Subscribers can read an interview with Iarnród Éireann CEO Jim Meade which appeared in the July 2023 issue of Railway Gazette International.
