Western Rail Corridor Energy Options
The main driving force behind the Western Rail Corridor has been Fr. Mícheál Mac Gréil. Previously, he successfully campaigned for a rail commuter service between Dublin and Maynooth, at a time when the idea was considered mad. Luckily, his vision to re-open the rail line in the West has prevented the line from being built upon, as has happened railways in other parts of the country. Transport in Ireland has now gone full circle and today it makes economic (freight), social (north and south relations) and environmental (cars are the biggest polluters in Ireland) sense to re-open rail links. My report below shows some of the options available to provide energy for rail transport. I focused on biofuels, as that was "radical" enough at the time of writing, however, an electric and biofuel hybrid (powered by wind) would make more sense. See links below for examples of how this technology is currently being used.
Click on images for more information.
Public Transport technologies in use
http://www.railpower.com/products_hl_ggseries.html
http://www.nmrailrunner.com/equipment.asp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4112926.stm
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