KiHa 160 series

The KiHa 160 series was a low-capacity commuter diesel multiple unit used by the Hokkaido Railway Company from June 1997 to December 2013.
==History==
The KiHa 160 series was produced by Niigata Tekkō in 1997 to replace KiHa 130 series car KiHa 130-5 which was involved in a level crossing incident in 1996 and was deemed irreparable. The car then entered service in June 1997 on the Hidaka Main Line, used mainly for express services; KiHa 130-5 would be abandoned at a snowdump in Teine, Sapporo along with numerous other retired diesel railcars before being removed and scrapped around 2008.
The train was used on the Hidaka Main Line until 2007, when it was withdrawn and converted into the Inno Tech Train (or Innovative Technology Train) to test out hybrid systems. The car was then moved to Tomakomai Depot and test run a number of more times to demonstrate power, performance and driving efficiency over the years until it was finally withdrawn in 2013 and scrapped.
==Design==
The KiHa 160 series used a squared-off design similar to many other railcars of the time. Unusually for a railcar built around that time, the car featured high-intensity discharge headlights.
==Specifications==
Construction of the car was of steel based on the NDC series of diesel railcars. Length of the car was 18.5 meters, a standard length of car for the NDC series. The car featured a number of design improvements over the KiHa 130 series cars.
The KiHa 160 series car was equipped with a N-DMF13HZ prime mover producing 325 HP (330 PS); in its Inno Tech Train guise the car featured an MA hybrid (motor-assisted hybrid) system and a special dual-clutch 4-speed automatic transmission known as the Active Shift Transmission (AST), which shifts the connection of the prime movers, gears and output shafts depending on the operating conditions. The entire drive system features four modes: mode A (electric motor only), mode B (motor + prime mover), mode C (energy regeneration while coasting) and mode D (regenerative braking).
The MA hybrid system works on a similar principle to the Hybrid Train family of diesel railcars operated by JR East; at standstill, stored energy from the batteries is used to power auxiliary equipment on the train, such as air conditioning and lights. On moving from standstill, energy stored from the same batteries drives the traction motors via the onboard inverter; at this stage, the engine does not function. The engine will only cut in when the train needs further acceleration or if it is scaling a gradient for added power; once the train hits 20 km/h while moving, the engine cuts in. The car regenerates energy when coasting and when braking through regenerative brakes.
==References==
*Wikipedia.org
Category:Diesel trainsets
Category:JR Group trains
Category:Niigata Tekkō locomotives
Category:Built in 1997
Category:Unique locomotives
Category:Scrapped locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Passenger locomotives
Category:Scrapped diesel locomotives
Category:Japanese locomotives
Category:Japan