Rail transport company Alstom has partnered with the Dutch province of Groningen, local operator Arriva, Dutch railway infrastructure manager ProRail and energy company Engie on a pilot project to test the Coradia iLint in the Netherlands.
The Coradia iLint is the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which produce electrical power for traction. The train emits only water and steam during operation.
It offers a clean alternative for railway operators and regional authorities wishing to replace diesel fleets for operation on nonelectrified lines and meet ambitious zero-emission objectives.
Tests will be carried out on the track between Groningen and Leeuwarden at up to 140 km/h over a period of about two weeks. The tests are likely to take place in the first quarter of 2020.
The objective was to demonstrate that hydrogen fuel cell technology was an appropriate method of achieving zero-emission rail traffic on non-electrified lines in the Netherlands, where there were currently diesel trains running, Alstom said in a statement this week.
“Alstom is committed to developing and implementing mobility solutions that not only permit the emergence of fully sustainable transport systems but also help drive the broader energy transition,” Alstom Benelux MD Bernard Belvaux commented, adding that the company “looks forward to demonstrating that hydrogen represents a highly suitable way forward in both cases”.
The world’s first two hydrogen trains have already been used in regular passenger service in Lower Saxony, Germany, since September 2018.
The Dutch railway network has about 1 000 km of nonelectrified line.