Economical Comparison of Passenger Rail Traction Rolling Stock Alternatives

Abstract

Railway passenger operators typically seek to reduce costs by purchasing the cheapest rolling stock possible. Carriers choose already proven traction rail vehicles without sufficient consideration of environmental requirements. The choice depends on whether the railway is electrified. Depending on this, the choice is between electric multi-units (EMUS) and diesel multi-units (DMUs). Global decarbonisation and rising fossil fuel prices are leading to a choice of alternatives. In many cases, alternatives such as battery electric multi-units (BEMU) are a better economic choice than DMUs. Zero – emission (hydrogen) multi-units (ZEMU) are the least cost-effective option as they have a high potential due to the steadily decreasing price of hydrogen and the possibility of fully replacing DMUs. A ZEMU’s often has similar or even better characteristics than a DMU. In this work, an economic analysis of the different traction types has been carried out, looking at energy and fuel costs, investment, maintenance and repair costs. The economic comparison was carried out by calculating a new coefficient of comparison between traction alternatives. Gained results show that the best alternative overall is electric catenary traction and the least economically effective is hydrogen traction. These data can be used by the passenger rail operator to improve and develop its rail vehicle fleet.