Come and join us to learn about Great Western Railway’s entirely battery powered Class 230 battery electric multiple unit. The industry leading fast charge system enables automatic charging of the train batteries in as little as 3 minutes. Following a thorough testing programme, this train has now entered passenger service.

On 19th/20th August 2025, this unit travelled 200.5 miles on battery power which is a world record for the longest distance travelled by a battery train on a single charge.

Our speaker will be Andrew Skinner, Head of Engineering for Great Western Railway in the UK. Andrew is a Past Chair of the IMechE Railway division, a Fellow of the IMechE and an IMechE Council Leadership Committee member.

Join us to hear the development story of the train, the fast charge technology and the secrets behind the world record run.

Please RSVP below to gain access to the webinar link 

About our speaker – Andrew Skinner

Andrew joined British Rail from school as a sponsored undergraduate. He gained a BEng degree having studied Mechanical Engineering at Brunel University.

After training in the heavy engineering workshops, he became a member of the IMechE and a Chartered Engineer. Andrew’s first role was as a Technical Officer at Cardiff locomotive depot also deputising for Production Managers leading the maintenance teams.

A promotion to Area Traction & Rolling Stock Engineer increased his responsibility for people and technical issues. He started a commercial interest having responsibility for the maintenance of steel wagons under contract which also opened his interest in the industrial railway history of South Wales and railfreight markets.

Following a move to the West Midlands running locomotive and wagon depots; at rail privatisation Andrew moved back to Cardiff as the Depot Manager. To further his commercial skills, he then became an Account Manager for the sales of infrastructure trains to Railtrack for track maintenance.

He took an opportunity as a Project Manager in Great Western Trains combing his skills. Initially managing an £18M upgrade to the High Speed Train fleet, he has continued in various engineering roles including responsibility for four major depots and around 600 staff to his current role as Head of Engineering for the Great Western Railway.

His responsibilities have broadened over time and he now manages engineering technical & standards, assurance, data, occupational safety, an ISO certified management system and IT for one of the most diverse range of train fleets operating in the UK.

Andrew’s involvement with IMechE began in the early 1990s as a committee member of the Railway Division South Western Centre. He went on to Chair the Centre and is currently the Treasurer. After becoming a Railway Division Board member, Andrew went on to become Chair in 2023/24. He has also Chaired the Railway Engineers Forum, remains an active professional mentor and is currently a member of the IMechE Council Leadership Committee.