Preliminary Sizing and Simulation of Battery Operated Trains for the Line Between Reggio Calabria and Catanzaro Lido

There is still a large quantity of railway lines for which a complete electrification is not feasible. For this kind of lines Diesel or Diesel-Electric Propulsion systems are most adopted. To reduce the environmental impact of railway traffic on non-electrified lines a valid alternative is represented by the adoption of battery-operated solutions. For the European market the adoption of Battery Electric Multiple Unit is of particular interest. Currently these systems are equipped with LTO (Lithium Titanate Storage Systems) a technology that meet severe specifications in terms of expected life, thermal stability and reliability. In this study authors investigate the possibility of adopting less expensive and tendentially more performing cells that are typically adopted in the automotive sector such as the LINMC ones. Catanzaro Lido-Reggio Calabria line is adopted as case study to compare different solutions and to verify how the adoption of intermediate recharge islands (electrified section of the line in which dynamic recharge is performed) can help to increase performances reliability and expected life of storage systems both in terms of cycle and calendar aging.