The province began investigating the use of battery trains to replace diesel traction on routes without overhead electrification, following a study that costed the deployment of hybrid multiple units on regional routes at €59·6m, against €113m to install 1·5 kV DC electrification. Infrastructure manager ProRail and operator Arriva Nederland conducted trials on the Almelo – Hardenberg and Arnhem – Doetinchem routes in February, using a Stadler Wink multiple-unit which was temporarily fitted with batteries and a pantograph.