November 2, 2025
All aboard the hype train
'This is the big one' – tech firms bet on electrifying rail
Solar trains, magnet wagons, and a whole lot of eye-rolls
TLDR: Britain is testing trackside solar and new software to electrify rail, with Network Rail inviting suppliers. Commenters mostly mocked it as old news and “gadgetbahn” hype, joking that magnet-powered wagons are just, well, trains—while a few note grid constraints make local renewables interesting.
Tech firms are shouting “this is the big one,” but the internet’s reply is basically: cool demo, weird pitch. A tiny solar array near Aldershot is already sipping sunshine into passing trains via Riding Sunbeams. Network Rail wants suppliers for rail-side renewables, and the startup is bidding. Engineers are tackling tricky bits like turning solar’s direct current into the alternating current overhead lines need, while Huddersfield software helped electrify the 125mph Colton Junction in painstaking 3D. Cue the comments: “gadgetbahn”, “solved problem,” and “what’s the news?”
The spiciest drama lands on Poland’s Nevomo, which says magnets can move freight wagons without locomotives. The community collectively spit-takes: “That’s called a train.” One user says the article reads like “rejects from a plausible piece,” another shrugs that electric rail and solar in the grid are “since forever.” There’s some grudging respect for tackling grid bottlenecks—local power near tracks could speed projects—but the vibe is meme-heavy skepticism: “boil-the-ocean ideas,” “whiplash,” and gadgetbahn bingo. Translation for non-rail nerds: yes, solar can feed trains, yes, software can cut costs, and yes, magnets are… controversial. The hype train left the station; the comments pulled the emergency cord.
Key Points
- •Riding Sunbeams’ 40 kW Aldershot solar array (2019) feeds power directly into an electrified rail line, claimed as the only such UK installation delivering traction power.
- •Network Rail is seeking suppliers for rail-side renewables; Riding Sunbeams plans to bid following earlier funding delays for a larger pilot.
- •Integrating solar with new overhead line systems is challenged by DC (solar) vs AC (OLE) differences; a converter device is being developed in England.
- •Colton Junction (Leeds–York) electrification used University of Huddersfield 3D OLE modeling software to cut testing and enable maximum-speed operations since August.
- •Polish start-up Nevomo proposes an electromagnetic propulsion retrofit that propels magnet-equipped freight wagons without locomotives, enabling independent wagon movement.