A study was made on the technological and economic feasibility of a railcar equipped with different hybrid concepts, like diesel engine and conventional electric traction to be used simultaneously or alternatively.
Expected advantages of the hybrid vehicle (as compared to a diesel railcar) are:

• An operation with no local emissions is possible. This is especially interesting for the growing number of underground stations
• Brake energy recovery is possible
• An intelligent joint operation of the two energy sources can optimise energy efficiency of the system. This may save energy in the order of over 5%.

Costs are high and no test carrier exists at present. In the near future no further activities are planned in this field. The DB AG will rather observe the developments in this sector.