LA Metro will power its trains on recycled kinetic energy

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

CHamilton

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
Gathering Team Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
5,307
Location
Seattle
LA Metro will power its trains on recycled kinetic energy

The Los Angeles Metro will begin capturing and repurposing the kinetic energy of its own trains, thanks to a new $3.6 million contract with energy company VYCON. The new system will use flywheel technology to store energy generated by braking trains that enter the Westlake and MacArthur Station and use it to power their acceleration as they depart.
 
SEPTA is testing a similar braking energy capture system on its Market-Frankford line. See SEPTA is putting the brakes — the El's brakes — on wasted energy. The SEPTA system is using a battery storage approach, not the flywheel approach being tried by LA Metro. Found a SEPTA website description that provide more technical details on the power capture project.

I can see these energy capture systems being deployed initially to single line or smaller rapid transit metro lines because it is simpler to implement it in a single line system. The other major consideration is that there are fewer other trains to send regenerative braking power to, so much of the regenerative power is loss unless there is a power capture device to store it for up to a few seconds or minutes.

If these devices work and are reliable, they offer the potential to significantly improve the energy efficiency of rail rapid transit systems.
 
Back
Top