Christmas dinner for south Essex

National Express train operator c2c’s trains are returning enough power to the National Grid to cook dinner for every household in south Essex this Christmas!

A new enhancement to the regenerative braking system on c2c’s trains, which returns electricity to the National Grid via the overhead power lines when the trains brake, has increased the amount of energy saved by 24% compared to previous levels.

This means in December alone, c2c trains will return more than 360MWh of electricity to the National Grid. The equivalent power is sufficient to roast more than 265,000 turkeys for Christmas dinner – roughly one each for every household in the parts of Essex served by c2c – Southend, Thurrock, Basildon, Castle Point and Brentwood.

The amount of power saved in just one day by c2c trains is enough to boil more than 300,000 kettles.

c2c Managing Director Julian Drury said: “We’ve upgraded our trains to make them greener than ever, and it’s remarkable to think the power we’re saving could cook Christmas dinner for all of south Essex! When you also consider our trains are quiet and don’t emit fumes, it shows c2c is an environmentally-friendly way to travel, as well as being reliable and punctual.”