South West Trains provides even greener trains with launch of new energy meter

South West Trains, the UK’s biggest commuter rail franchise, has today announced the start of a brand new initiative which is designed to cut energy consumption on its trains by up to 10% a year. The new Train Energy Management System (TEMS), which is being piloted on 20 of the company’s Class 444, 450, 455 and 458 trains, will allow improved environmental performance through the development of new eco-friendly driving techniques.

The first five trains to be equipped with the TEMS, also known as the railway energy meter, has now been completed and is back into service on the London Waterloo to Reading line. A total of 20 trains are scheduled to be equipped with the technology by May 2011.

The energy meter allows the South West Trains engineering team to accurately determine the energy used by trains on a specific route. One of the biggest impacts will be the ability to improve the environmental performance of each and every South West Trains service, through developing new eco-friendly driving techniques which reduce electricity consumption.

Christian Roth, Engineering Director for South West Trains, said: “Rail is already one of the most environmentally friendly modes of public transport and we are committed to making it even greener. Our latest initiative to reduce energy consumption builds on the work we have already done and demonstrates our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint even further.

“We are optimistic that this pilot project will help us deliver a further 10% reduction in energy from the development of eco-friendly driving techniques.

“Currently our electric trains account for almost 90% of the total South West Trains fleet and these trains run around 33 million miles every year. This means there’s clearly huge potential to make a real difference in terms of energy reduction.”

The scheme will generate valuable data which will be assessed by train engineers and driver managers. It will provide advice to drivers of all trains on the techniques most appropriate to the individual route to maximise the use of the electricity. On-board passenger amenities, journey times and reliability will not be affected by the results of the trial and will remain at the same levels as currently.

As part of Stagecoach Group’s five year carbon reduction plan, South West Trains’ fleet has also been equipped with regenerative braking technology to harness the energy from braking and return it as electricity to the rail system. Other initiatives include an upgrade to station lighting to new energy efficient systems which use 60 per cent less electricity.