UK Railway Minister, Jo Johnson, announced that hydrogen train should be tested on country’s railways “as soon as possible” as the technology offers an affordable – and potentially much cleaner – alternative to diesel. The statement was made as the Minister announced the government’s plans to implement a new vision to decarbonise the railway by 2040.
Hydrogen train technology has developed fast in recent years. To the extent that Alstom is now testing its train – Coradia iLint, which only emits steam and condensed water – yet is capable of 140 km per hour and a range of up to 800 km, which matches the performance of regular regional trains.
Rolls Royce is also looking at this technology, “so the next generation of trains is just around the corner. To speed our journey towards a zero-carbon railway, the government is investing record amounts in public R&D to improve our knowledge base.”
The government has tasked Arriva, the operator of the Northern franchise, to deliver an electric/battery hybrid on the Windermere branch from 2021.
“So, I am calling on the railway to provide a vision for how it will decarbonise. And I expect the industry to report back by the autumn,” Johnson said.
The Minister calls for diesel-only trains to be phased out as part of the new strategy. “I would like to see us take all diesel-only trains off the track by 2040. If that seems like an ambitious goal – it should be and I make no apology for that. After all, we’re committed to ending sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040,” Johnson said.
Among government solution is to introduce new bi-modes trains which are a great bridging technology to other low emission futures. Bi-mode trains fitted with modern diesels – which we started introducing last autumn on the Great Western line and on the East Coast Main Line in 2018 – are less polluting than the trains they replaced. And as battery technologies improve the Ministry expects to see the diesel engines in bi-modes replaced altogether.
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