World’s first hydrogen fuel cell train tours across Germany

Alstom’s Coradia iLint – the hydrogen fuel cell train that is the first of its kind – will be on tour in Germany from late January to mid-February 2019.

The roadshow will start in Rhineland-Palatinate and continue in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Thuringia, Berlin and Brandenburg.

“This roadshow is a great opportunity for passengers, media and political stakeholders to get to know our Coradia iLint hydrogen train. Our technology is ready for use. It represents an existing environmentally-friendly alternative for non-electrified or partially-electrified lines and offers increased passenger comfort thanks to a significantly quieter train in comparison to a conventional diesel multiple unit,” said Dr. Jörg Nikutta, Managing Director for Alstom in Germany and Austria.

Since September 2018, the first two hydrogen trains from Alstom have been in regular passenger service on the Elbe-Weser network, and 2021 will see the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) using 14 Coradia iLints to transport regular travellers between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude with the environmentally-friendly fuel cell trains.

The Coradia iLint features several innovations: Clean energy conversion, flexible energy storage in batteries and intelligent management of power and available energy. Purpose-built for use on non-electrified lines, it enables clean, sustainable traction while maintaining high performance.

The vehicle was developed by the Alstom teams in Salzgitter, Alstom’s competence centre for regional trains, and in Tarbes (France), Alstom’s competence centre for traction systems.