Under the demonstration event of Coradia iLint hydrogen train in Quebec, there were transported more than 10,000 passengers from mid-June to the end of September 2023.
In the first results of North America’s first demonstration of hydrogen-powered, the Coradia iLint train made over 130 trips spanning 10,660 km in Quebec, saving 8,400 litres of diesel and averted 22 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared to the diesel trains that normally service this route. Moreover, Alstom and its partners welcomed 34 commercial, governmental and regulatory delegations from all over North America looking to witness this hydrogen-propulsion technology and capture the requirements for wider implementation across North America.
“This summer, we demonstrated that hydrogen trains can be an attractive, safe and viable alternative to diesel on non-electrified lines and that we can do it right here in North America,” Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom in the Americas, said.
The demonstration underlined that if a robust hydrogen ecosystem is available to provide fuel, such trains are safe and reliable. As results of the demonstration, Alstom also says that hydrogen-powered mobility requires an agile and reliable hydrogen fuel production and distribution system. North America is taking the first steps towards building this kind of hydrogen ecosystem and continued investment and commitment will be needed to scale. To unlock the benefits of hydrogen-powered trains, North American decision-makers will need to adapt regulatory standards that were created before hydrogen was conceived for this purpose. As this ecosystem matures, it will create new jobs requiring new skillsets around the operation and maintenance of a hydrogen fuel network, hydrogen-powered traction systems and hydrogen fuel cells, Alstom concludes.
Alstom is partnering with the Hydrogen Research Institute of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières to analyse the results of the demonstration project and will issue a final report for public authorities in early 2024.
The demonstration of the hydrogen train in Quebec was made possible thanks to a partnership between Alstom, which supplied and maintained the trains, Train de Charlevoix/Réseau Charlevoix who made their teams and tracks available, Harnois Énergies, which provided the right amount of green hydrogen at the expected pressure, HTEC, which implemented the mobile hydrogen charging solution and Accelera by Cummins, which supplied and maintained the fuel cell during the pilot. The project was also authorised and supported by the Government of Quebec.
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