This shot was taken at York railway station a week ago, and shows a unique rail vehicle.
Grand Central operates services between Sunderland, York and London, as an open access operator, so receives no government subsidy. Most of their rail vehicles are painted black with an orange stripe along the body side below the windows, but this vehicle has gone green - literally, with the orange body stripe replaced by green, and environmentally since it claims to be 'the World's first dual fuel LNG (liquid natural gas) powered passenger train'.
This is one of a number of experiments currently taking place to reduce the dependance of the rail industry on oil. Electrification would be the ideal answer, but it is likely to be many years before all lines suitable for electrification will be electrified, so for the present relatively modest amounts of money are being spent on reducing oil use.
Interesting - I've used Grand Central a few times, as often the best value for the route I wanted to travel - and am glad they are going green (I'm on a Carbon Literacy course and even though I only use public transport, foot and cycle, my travel was still 40% of my carbon footprint.)
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
This may only be a single vehicle that uses LNG, but if this trial is successful it might be the first of many. Meanwhile, trains that can be powered by diesel or by electricity from the overhead wires are becoming increasingly common.
Ian
June 26th, 2022
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We have on TV an train series called: Rail away`` It shows trais and tracks all over the world. Love watching it.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
This may only be a single vehicle that uses LNG, but if this trial is successful it might be the first of many. Meanwhile, trains that can be powered by diesel or by electricity from the overhead wires are becoming increasingly common.
Ian