Japan inaugurates first hybrid train
The Associated Press
Published: July 30, 2007
SAKU, Japan: Winding past rice paddies and lazily blowing its whistle along bubbly creeks, a two-car train in rural northern Japan is the latest entrant in the battle against global warming.
Encouraged by the success of hybrid cars, Japan is now bringing hybrid trains to the world. Regular passenger service is to begin Tuesday along a short, mountainous route in what will be the first commercial service by a diesel-electric hybrid train.
"It's part of our efforts to be green," Yasuaki Kikuchi, a spokesman for East Japan Railway, said during a test Friday.
Compared with cars, trains are relatively small contributors to global warming. But the popularity of hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius is helping to increase interest in hybrid trains. Railroad companies around the world, including Amtrak in the United States and Deutsche Bahn in Germany, are looking into the technology.
Cost remains a major problem, however. The Japanese train, the Kiha E200 - which is 20 percent more fuel efficient and produces only 60 percent as much emissions as a standard diesel - cost nearly $1.7 million, roughly twice as much as a standard train would have, Kikuchi said.
With the word "hybrid" splashed in silver paint across its side, the otherwise normal-looking train rolled quietly out of Nakagomi station during its test run. The train has a diesel engine, two electric motors under each car and lithium ion batteries on the roof. The diesel engine is to kick in only when needed to climb a hill or when the batteries run low.
The batteries are recharged when the train slows. After the power is switched off, the motors continue to turn for a while and the energy expended then - which is wasted in a non-hybrid train - is used to recharge the batteries.
Whether cars or trains, hybrids delicately balance their two sources of power, relying on computers to minimize waste. Aside from the usual buttons and dials, the conductor of the new Japanese train also has access to a touch-panel monitor. Arrows show the constantly changing direction in which energy is flowing, connecting boxes that represent the engine, generator, motor and battery.
The Kiha E200, which seats 46 but can hold as many as 117 people including standing passengers, will start with an inaugural route of about 80 kilometers, or 50 miles, and will run about once an hour. Over time, East Japan Railway will gather data on fuel consumption by the train, which is expected to vary according to passenger load, maintenance needs and heating in the winter, said Mitsuyoshi Yokota, an engineer with the railroad company.
In the United States, railroads contribute just 4 percent of transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas to which global warming is attributed. The company Railpower Technologies has developed a hybrid train called the Green Goat, but it is designed specifically for moving freight cars in railroad yards.
Most efforts in the U.S. train industry have focused on developing cleaner fuels for nonhybrid trains, said Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum. The United States, he said, is "not really looking at hybrid technology as replacing the main locomotive."
Even in Japan, expectations are not high. "Maybe we can't expect too much from a railway this small," said Makoto Arisawa, an ecology professor at Keio University in Tokyo. "For the technology to be effective, it must become more widespread."
But that did not stop Hitomi Shimizu, 29, who runs a nearby inn, from showing up at Nakagomi station to have her photograph taken next to the train.
"I'm so proud of being part of a community with a train that's gentle to the environment," she said.
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