Alstom's hydrogen trains enter passenger service in Lower Saxony

The world's first hydrogen fuel cell train has started commercial operation on 17 September in the German state of Lower Saxony, French rail group Alstom announced in a statement. The Coradia iLint, built by Alstom in Salzgitter, Germany, is equipped with fuel cells that convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, eliminating pollutant emissions related to propulsion. Two hydrogen-powered, low-noise, zero-emission trains have begun commercial service in the state. The new trains will be initially fuelled at a mobile hydrogen filling station. The gaseous hydrogen is pumped into the trains from a 40-foot-high steel container next to the tracks at Bremervörde station. The trains can travel up 1,000 km throughout the network on one tank. Alstom will deliver a further 14 Coradia iLint trains in 2021, when a stationary filling station is also scheduled to go into operation.

Read Alstom’s press release here.