cocteautwinslyrics asked:

what's the problem with battery locos? Italy's getting battery trains to save the cost and inconvenience of electrifying thousands of km of track while at the same time eliminating DMUs and decarbonising. the lithium is only a small problem in my eyes surely

Well Battery Trains are far heavier and each train is far more expensive than a train that runs with overhead wire, they also require time to charge, and oh yeah use lithium ion batteries which have a tendency to explode and cause fires which can’t be put out in anyway but burying the thing. They are also unable to do truly long distance routes because even the best only have a 100 mile limit before needing to charge. Replacing our fleet with battery electric locomotives would be just as expensive as electrifying a long distance route like the Wolverine with far less environmental benefits.