Rolls-Royce commences series production of Hybrid-ready MTU PowerPacks for Irish Rail28 Jul 2020 12:38
Rolls-Royce commences series production of Hybrid-ready MTU PowerPacks for Irish Rail
Irish national railway operator orders 41 Hybrid-ready PowerPacks
Delivery scheduled to commence next summer, with option for future hybrid conversion
Rolls-Royce is to supply its very first series production MTU PowerPacks which are prepared for future use as hybrid traction units: Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail, the national railway operator of the Republic of Ireland, has ordered 41 of these MTU Hybrid-ready PowerPacks. Fitted with MTU 6H 1800 R86 engines, the PowerPacks comply with the EU Stage V emissions directives and each delivers 375 kW from the diesel engine as well as 150 kW from the electrical machine. Delivery is to commence in 2021, and the PowerPacks are to power Class 22000 trains on scheduled services from late 2022. At a later, yet to be decided stage Rolls-Royce could equip these PowerPacks with batteries, turning them into fully-fledged MTU Hybrid PowerPacks. The order is a further milestone in the partnership between Rolls-Royce and Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail. This currently includes refurbishing the fleet with new transmissions and testing both conventional EU Stage V and hybrid traction systems from 2021. Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail also plans to introduce into service further MTU Hybrid PowerPacks in the years to come.