Alstom, which develops and markets systems, equipment and services for sustainable mobility in the railway sector, has unveiled its zero-emission, hydrogen fuel cell train at the railway industry’s largest trade fair, located in Berlin.
Despite numerous electrification projects in several countries, a significant part of Europe’s rail network will remain non-electrified in the long term. In many countries, the number of diesel trains in circulation is still high – more than 4,000 cars in Germany, for instance.
According to the company, Coradia iLint is a new CO2-emission-free regional train and alternative to diesel power, as it is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Alstom notes that the Coradia iLint is based on the diesel train Coradia Lint 54, and the new vehicle will be manufactured in Salzgitter, the company’s largest site.
“Alstom is proud to launch a breakthrough innovation in the field of clean transportation [that] will complete its Coradia range of regional trains. It shows our ability to work in close collaboration with our customers and develop a train in only two years,” declared Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Alstom’s chairman and CEO.
Alstom says it is among the first railway manufacturers in the world to develop a passenger train based on such technology. To make the deployment of the Coradia iLint as simple as possible for operators, Alstom offers a complete package, consisting of the train and maintenance, as well as the whole hydrogen infrastructure out of one hand.
This launch follows the Letters-of-Intent signed in 2014 with the German Landers of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and the Public Transportation Authorities of Hesse for the use of a new generation of emission-free train equipped with fuel cell drive.
