EXCLUSIVE: Alstom sets out plans for UK hydrogen-powered trains
Alstom is targeting 2021-22 for its first hydrogen-powered trains to enter revenue-earning service in the UK.
It follows the company’s announcement in May that it would work with Eversholt Rail to convert Class 321 electric multiple units to hydrogen operation by fitting on-board tanks for the gas, which when combined with oxygen can produce an electric current to charge fuel cells for traction ( RAIL 853).
If successful, the trains would enter service in the UK at roughly the same time as in Germany, where Alstom has a contract to deliver 14 hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint trains to the Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony by December 2021 ( RAIL 840).
In April, two two-car prototypes commenced a two-year pilot study on the German network, funded by federal authorities.
Eversholt Rail owns 101 fourcar Class 321s that are currently operated by Greater Anglia and a further three four-car units operated by Northern. All are due to go off-lease by the end of 2019.
Alstom’s head of business development Mike Muldoon was unable to confirm to RAIL how many ‘321s’ would be converted, because of the commercial sensitivity of its ongoing discussions with a number of UK operators.
However, he did exclusively reveal that the conversion work would take place at Alstom’s rolling stock modernisation facility at Widnes, which is intended to become a global centre of excellence in hydrogen technology.
He told RAIL: “The ‘321’ fleet is fairly numerous, which fits with our objective of achieving multiple deployments. We are looking to secure a large fleet deployment, not just one or two trains, and are working with a number of operators.
“We believe that 2021-22 is a viable date, and we don’t see any reason why we should be slower that the German programme. But that does require favourable progress in other areas.”
Those areas include providing a supply of hydrogen, which can be produced using electricity and electrolysis or as a bi-product from industrial processes.
Sufficient quantities cannot be delivered to train refuelling points by road, meaning that they must either be located close to the source of production or via a newly constructed pipeline network.
The German iLint deal has been supported by a 100 million euro (£88m) investment from federal government to build a new hydrogen filling station, suggesting that a similar-sized investment would be needed in the UK.
Nevertheless, with Rail Minister Jo Johnson’s pledge to withdraw the entire UK diesel fleet by 2040 and with electrification currently put on hold by the Department for Transport, Muldoon is optimistic that new or retrofitted hydrogen trains will provide a cost-effective and zero-carbon solution on many parts of the network.
He added: “We need to address the necessity to put hydrogen trains anywhere on the network, but the North West and North East of England are currently two key production areas of hydrogen. Local production in other areas would also be possible, particularly where there is a low-carbon supply of electricity from wind farms.
“There are 2,400 DMUs that will become life-expired by 2040, which creates a number of opportunities in the UK market as a growing number of fleets become available.”