Alstom has just scored a major coup in train transport. A Coradia iLint train equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell that produces electric energy for traction, has travelled 1,175 kilometres in Germany without refuelling. This is a record that suggests great future possibilities for this technology. Designed by teams in Salzgitter (Germany) and Tarbes (France), Alstom has been working on the hydrogen project since 2014. Eventually, this type of train, which can carry 300 passengers, should replace trains running on diesel.
Despite a 20% higher acquisition cost, the zero-emission train is more profitable in the long term than its diesel counterpart. "The cost is indeed more expensive at the beginning, but afterwards, a train like the Coradia iLint will generate stable maintenance costs, whereas a diesel train becomes more and more expensive over time, especially in terms of maintenance,” Alstom project manager Stefan Schranke explained. Without revealing the price of a hydrogen train, Gian Luca Erbacci, President of Alstom's European region, told us that "the cost of use per kilometre, including the purchase of the train, the cost of fuel and maintenance services, is lower than for a similar diesel train". Another advantage is that, in addition to being silent and less polluting than a diesel, it only takes 15 minutes to fill the train's two 260-kilogram tanks of hydrogen, which are located on the roof.
Not an alternative for CFL and SNCB
From a technical point of view, the Coradia iLint is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that generates electricity for the electric motors through the reaction of hydrogen and atmospheric oxygen. The only "emission" is water vapour. The fuel cell is also used to charge two batteries - with a total output of 900kW - which help accelerate the train.
However, as Gian Luca Erbacci admits, "Luxembourg will probably never see this hydrogen train.” The reason is simple: unlike a country like Italy, where a third of the rail network is not electrified, 100% of the 275 km network is electrified in Luxembourg. The (CFL) therefore have no reason to opt for a train equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell, which does not represent a sufficiently interesting alternative to the electric trains it already uses. The same applies to our Belgian neighbours, since 92% of the rail network there is also electrified.
Alstom is targeting countries where the electrification of lines is difficult and costly, such as Italy, Germany, France, the north of the United Kingdom and Eastern European countries such as Poland and Romania. The French giant has already signed four contracts to deliver 14 Coradia iLint trains for Lower Saxony and 27 Coradia iLint trains for the Frankfurt region over the next few years. The other two contracts are for six hydrogen trains for Italy (with an additional option for eight more cars) and 12 trains for France. SNCF has already planned a roll-out by 2025 in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est and Occitanie. In the East of France, Alstom's hydrogen train will be put into service on the Strasbourg - Haguenau - Niederbronn-les-Bains line.
Anyone eager to take a ride on a hydrogen train already will have to go to the Hamburg region in Germanywhere the Coradia iLint has already been in commercial service on the evb (Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH) network since August 2022.
The article was first published in and has been translated by Delano.