Benefits of hybridisation of diesel driven rail vehicles: Energy management strategies and life-cycle costs appraisal

Hybridisation of diesel-driven rail vehicles is already possible and promises significant reductions in fuel consumption and exhaust emissions (nitrogen oxides and particulate matter). However, current performance can be significantly improved by introducing technologies such as energy storage systems. The aim of this paper is to investigate the energy management strategies and technical life cycle cost aspects of railway-specific hybridisation architectures. To do so, twelve promising combinations of system architectures, energy storage systems and railway duty cycles have been selected, described and analyzed.