Potentials of alternative propulsion systems for railway vehicles — A techno-economic evaluation

This paper discusses alternative propulsion systems for heavy railway vehicles. First, edge conditions such as drivers and roadblocks for the implementation of alternative propulsions in railway vehicles are discussed. For operations on a non-electrified railway route, the required main propulsion components of a battery electric multiple unit and of a fuel cell multiple unit are roughly dimensioned and economically compared with a benchmark diesel multiple unit, the BR 612 of Deutsche Bahn. The non-electrified route from Ulm to Oberstdorf was considered as a reference route for the simulation and drivetrain layout. Our analysis finds that alternative drive concepts hold a high potential for future railway vehicles, depending on the boundary conditions.