Two Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen trains have successfully completed a year and a half of trial operation, running 530 days and covering more than 180,000 driven kilometres. Two pre-series trains of Coradia iLint model have been in passenger service since September 2018 in Germany.
From 2022, 14 Coradia iLint series trains will replace the existing diesel multiple units of Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH (evb).
In 2017, the Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony (LNVG) has ordered 14 Coradia iLint hydrogen trains under a contract which includes maintenance and energy supply for a period of 30 years. The supply of the train with hydrogen will be ensured by an own filling station of the Linde Group. A stationary filling station on EVB premises is scheduled to go into operation in 2021.
The procurement of the hydrogen trains shows authority’s commitment to develop a zero-emission transport system in Lower Saxony.
“With the successfully completed trial operation, the requirements for continuous operation of the hydrogen trains from 2022 are fulfilled. LNVG thus contributes to the implementation of sustainable, innovative and ecological mobility solutions, especially in rural areas,” Carmen Schwabl, Managing Director of LNVG, said.
Alstom will produce the fuel cell trains for LNVG and will be responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles at its site in Salzgitter. The gases and engineering company Linde will build and operate a hydrogen filling station for the series trains near Bremervoerde station.
Starting September 2018, the Coradia iLint hydrogen train rolled into Bremervörde station, operating the 100 km of line running between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude, replacing EVB’s existing diesel fleet.
In January 2019, Coradia iLint entered a German tour to present the new hydrogen technology in six federal states, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony, Thuringia, Berlin and Brandenburg.
“Alstom has made hydrogen history here. The project is of a great importance to industrial policy that goes far beyond Germany. Here, we are witnessing the first competitive product of hydrogen mobility at industrial level”, Lower Saxony’s Minister of Economics and Transport, Bernd Althusmann, said.
Share on:
