Virgin’s Pendolino trains are lighting up Britain…….

Virgin’s state-of-the art Pendolino trains are generating enough electricity each year to provide the electricity to power 11,825 homes for a year, or charge over four-and-a-half million mobile phones.

During last December, the trains actually generated enough power to light over two million sets of domestic Christmas tree lights for the entire month.

The 125mph Pendolino trains are saving energy and reducing pollution as they return energy to the electrical feeder stations every time they brake. The 53 tilting trains, built and maintained by ALSTOM, are fitted with electronic control systems that cause the traction motors to provide braking effort by generating electricity back into the supply system. The generated electricity which is put back into the supply system achieves an overall energy saving of 17 percent.

The Pendolino trains are now used over all of the West Coast routes from London Euston to the West Midlands, Liverpool, Manchester, Cumbria and Scotland.

Research by Virgin Trains and ALSTOM shows that, based on data from Pendolino trains operating over the Manchester to London route, the Pendolino fleet, which covers around 13 million miles a year, is generating around 55 million kWh of power a year, which is returned to the National Grid.

On a typical London to Manchester journey, a Pendolino will return around 750kWh of electricity to the power supply system for re-use, and Virgin’s drivers are trained in economic and energy saving driving techniques.

Regenerative braking used on the Pendolino trains also reduces the use of the friction brakes, dramatically reducing brake-pad dust and pollution, to provide a double environmental benefit.

Virgin West Coast Managing Director Charles Belcher said: “Our Pendolino trains are providing valuable benefits to the environment. We know that our passengers care about the environment and they can travel in the knowledge that by choosing to travel by train, they are doing their bit to save the planet and reduce consumption of energy.”