Battery tracks: the green innovations that could power the railway’s next golden era

Tuesday 02 Dec 2025
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Battery trains are gearing up to replace much of Britain’s ageing diesel fleet. Andrew Wade reports on the technology set to power the transition.

Alongside the headline celebrations of 200 years of rail in Britain, 2025 also marks the 70th anniversary of the 1955 Modernisation Plan to update the rail network. Drawn up under Churchill’s second term after Labour had nationalised the railways in 1948, the plan called for a combination of mainline electrification as well as the introduction of diesel power to replace ageing steam locomotives.

Read more in The Engineer