A train line in the German state of Lower Saxony has been utilizing five zero-emission, hydrogen-powered trains – the first of their kind. The trains went into service Aug. 24. Nine more trains are scheduled to enter service over the next few months, which will create the first train line to run solely on hydrogen.
The Coradia iLint train model series, manufactured by French company Alstom, utilizes an engine that combines hydrogen with oxygen to produce power. These engines produce only steam and water, and excess heat is recycled through the engine to sustain more power.
“It’s less noisy,” Bruno Marguet, an executive with Alstom, told American business magazine Fast Company. “You don’t smell the diesel smoke when you’re in the station. There aren’t diesel emissions from nitrogen oxides, which are harmful for health.”
The trains can travel 1,000 kilometers, or 621 miles, on one tank of hydrogen, which can be refueled at hydrogen stations placed along the line. They can run at speeds approaching 90 miles per hour, but typically stay between 50 and 75 miles per hour.
The Coradia iLint trains will replace long-used diesel trains, which produce high amounts of nitrogen dioxide pollution. According to a study conducted by the UK’s Rail Safety and Standards Board, diesel trains running on London’s Great Western Expressway produced 13 times the nitrogen dioxide emissions as the bus line on the same city’s traffic-clogged Marylebone Road. These results suggest that diesel trains produce far more harmful emissions than the standard automobile engine.
The implementation of the new trains is also expected to cut down Lower Saxony’s carbon dioxide emissions by 4,000 tons per year.
Electrified railways have been utilized by many railroads as an alternative to harmful fuel-emissions. However, according to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, the hydrogen trains offer a much cheaper option, especially for train lines that see less regular use.
Though the Coradia iLint trains have only just been implemented on a single train line, they have been in the testing phase since 2018. After the initial 14 trains already being rolled out, Lower Saxony hopes to replace all 126 currently used trains with the new hydrogen-powered models.
“We will not buy any more diesel trains in order to do even more to combat climate change,” Carmen Schwable of Lower Saxony’s local public transit authority told Deutsche Welle.
