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- Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:42 am
Baysailor wrote:The bi-mode switchover doesn’t instantaneously happen. The diesel engine is shut down and the electric motor started (or the other way around). As you wouldn’t want to stop and do this on the mainline, maybe it makes sense to electrify a stretch off it to allow the train to convert power source.
I thought these bi-mode trains were primarily electric - that is to say that they have electric traction motors on the axels. Power for these motors can come either from the overhead lines or from Diesel engines (generators) located in some of the carriages. If this is the case then you would think the switchover could be fairly instantaneous - there may be some momentarily loss of power (which could be mitigated by small batteries), but it doesn’t seem like something that could only be done while the train is stationary.