The French Minister Delegate to the Minister of Ecological Transition responsible for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebarri, and Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, the President of Alstom France, have presented Coradia iLint train running on tracks of the Centre d’Essais Ferroviaires in Valenciennes (in the north of France).
The presented train is in a German configuration and adaptations will be necessary to approve the Coradia iLint according to French standards. The approval process has been initiated and will be finalised in line with the needs of the organising authorities.
This “zero emission” light train is as silent as an electric train and emits only water vapour. Suitable for use on non-electrified lines, the Coradia iLint hydrogen train is an ideal solution for small local lines, a strategic mobility issue for the French State and the French Regions.
Alstom is running and presenting the Coradia iLint train to various local stakeholders including government decision-makers, transport organising authorities, engineering companies and operators to highlight the potential of this train in the range of sustainable transport solutions offered in France.
The presentation is part of the national energy transition ambition, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise in transport, a challenge supported by the French government through its Hydrogen Plan, initiated in 2018. This presentation is also part of the French Recovery Plan and of the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) launched by the European Union in 2020.
In April 2021, France ordered 12 Coradia Polyvalent electric-hydrogen trains with an option for two additional vehicles.
France plays a key role in the development of hydrogen mobility solutions. The traction units are designed and manufactured in Alstom’s global green traction centre of excellence, based in Tarbes, in the South-West of France. The recent acquisition of Helion Hydrogen Power, based in Aix-en-Provence, in the South of France, which covers the entire high-power fuel cell value chain, demonstrates Alstom’s commitment to building a hydrogen centre of excellence in France. This new entity will participate in the development of very high-performance hydrogen solutions for heavy mobility, particularly railway.
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