France is about to try out battery-powered ‘mini-trains,’ a sort of railbus, to restore regular service to isolated towns and villages that have lost rail service over the years.
Called ‘Draisy,’ the self-powered railcars are able to quick-charge its batteries at stations and carry up to 80 passengers per car at 100 km/h. France has around 3,600 km of short lines connecting small towns to larger cities, but most of that trackage is used only be freight these days, leaving large areas without service.
Most of those lines are not electrified and are not suited for regular TER trains that weigh up to 160 tons. Because the Draisy cars are only about 20 tons in weight and the length of a city bus, they are suitable for use on those lines.
The test runs, in the Strasbourg area, near where the cars are built by Lohr, will be expanded to more of eastern France through 2025, and if successful, put in service across the country, perhaps by 2028.
