Unipart Rail and McCulloch Group have announced the official launch of their first prototype of the new TRT-e, a zero-emissions version of the Trac Rail Transposer. The launch took place in July 2021 at the Network Rail RIDC in Tuxford. This solution uses an electric motor and battery power pack instead of the traditional diesel engine and is run via an electronic control system. Having a remote condition monitoring, the system can be worked on the rail infrastructure where diesel emissions and noise pollution are a major issue. The TRT-e is expected to eliminate up to 80kg of CO2 on a typical operating shift, equating to an annual saving of 650,000kg of CO2 within McCulloch’s UK operations.
Manufactured at the Unipart Rail site in Crewe, the project has been developed in partnership with companies including McCulloch Group, Hyperbat, Williams Advanced Engineering, Advanced Electric Machines, and SR Technology.
The funding for the project was provided by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK as part of its 2020 competition, which for the first time awarded funding to projects aimed at making railways cleaner, greener, and more passenger friendly. Unipart Rail was selected as the winner in the Environmental sustainability category, receiving a share of the £9.4m (about €11m) awarded to 25 projects.
Unipart’s initiative supports the Group’s objective to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030, with the intent of becoming net zero before 2050. Chief Executive Officer David Girdler commented: “McCulloch’s innovative and patented methodology of lifting and manipulating rail within the footprint of the TRT machine optimises efficiency, requiring lower power requirements when compared to equivalent traditional rail plant which is often converted construction plant. This principle has enabled the development of a battery equivalent – the TRT-e – which builds on the successful and already efficient diesel powered TRT-e without compromising on operational performance or reliability.”
Source: Unipart Group
