Railway systems and equipment company Alstom successfully completed an 80 km/h test run of the Coradia iLint, the world’s first fuel-cell-powered passenger train, at the company’s test track in Salzgitter, Germany, last month.

An extensive test campaign will be conducted in Germany and the Czech Republic in the coming months before the Coradia iLint performs its first passenger test runs on the Buxtehude–Bremervörde–Bremerhaven–Cuxhaven route, in Germany, early next year.

Subsequent to the test run, Alstom will conduct a four-week-long trial run in Salzgitter to test the stability of the energy supply system, based on coordinated interaction between the drive, the fuel cell and the battery of the train. The braking power will also be tested to check the interface between the pneumatic and electric brakes.

Further, dynamic tests will be performed at 80 km/h and up to 140 km/h, the maximum speed of the train, at the Salzgitter plant, in Velim, in the Czech Republic.

A mobile filling station has been erected in Salzgitter to pump hydrogen gas into the pressure tank of the Coradia iLint. The hydrogen used for the test runs is the by-product of industrial processes. In the long term, Alstom aims to support hydrogen production from wind energy.

The Coradia iLint is the first low-floor passenger train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which produces electrical power for the traction. This zero-emissions train is silent and only emits steam and condensed water.

Coradia iLint combines a number of innovative elements, such as clean energy conversion, flexible energy battery storage, traction power and energy availability management.

Based on Alstom’s flagship Coradia Lint diesel train, the Coradia iLint is suitable for operation on nonelectrified networks and allows for sustainable train operations while maintaining performance.

Alstom Germany and Austria VP Didier Pfleger pointed out that the Coradia iLint represents a significant milestone for environmental protection and technical innovation. “With the Coradia iLint and its fuel cell technology, Alstom is the first railway manufacturer to offer a zero-emissions alternative for mass transit trains . . . our new traction system, so far successfully proved on the test ring, is used on a train for the first time – a major step towards cleaner mobility in Europe.”

The vehicle has successfully completed static commissioning processes, and all electrical and pneumatic functions of the train have been tested and verified at standstill. International testing and certificate company TÜV Süd has certified the safety of the battery, the pressure tank system and the fuel cell for the forthcoming test phases.

The Coradia iLint was designed by Alstom teams at the centre of excellence for regional trains in Salzgitter, and at the centres of excellence for traction systems, most notably in Tarbes, France and Ornans, for the motors.

This project is supported by the German Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure.

Alstom has signed letters of intent for 60 trains with the German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden- Württemberg and the Hessian transport association, Rhein- Main-Verkehrsverbund.