Alternative traction
Hydrogen and battery from Stadler…
The UK is a destination for versions of Stadler’s FLIRT - but so far there has been nothing quite like this one. The ‘Stars and Stripes’ on the cab side of the FLIRT H2 leaves little doubt as to where this particular hydrogen-powered train is headed.
A production vehicle rather than a prototype, the hydrogen-powered FLIRT H2 is destined for California, where from 2024 it is expected to cover 500km (300 miles) per day without refuelling. The San Bernardino County Transit Authority (SBCTA) already runs dieselpowered FLIRT vehicles.
Fewer than 1% of the US rail system is equipped with overhead catenary, and Stadler describes the contract with SBCTA as an “important milestone” for the company.
Indeed, it says the FLIRT H2 “is the first ever hydrogen-powered train for passenger service in the US and on the American continent”.
Unlike other hydrogen-powered designs, Stadler has chosen a layout familiar from other FLIRT variants, with two electrically powered end carriages and a power pack in the middle. This accommodates the entire hydrogen system, from the fuel cells and batteries to the hydrogen tanks.
The Swiss manufacturer also presented a battery version of the FLIRT, in conjunction with Nahverkehrsgesellschaft SchleswigHolstein (Nah.SH), the regional operator in Germany’s northernmost state.
The first of these is to enter service in 2023. And with 55 ordered, around 40% of services in Schleswig-Holstein’s regional transport will then be provided by battery trains.
These were not the only FLIRTs at the show, with Transport for Wales’ tri-mode version also present (see separate story). …and from Siemens…
Having demonstrated its hydrogen-powered Mireo multiple unit earlier in September (RAIL 966), Siemens used InnoTrans to show its battery-powered version for the first time. Fitted with a battery-hybrid drive, the Mireo Plus B can run for more than 80km (50 miles) away from the wires.
“Our Mireo Plus B battery train enables climate-friendly, locally emission-free passenger transport, and thus offers a sustainable alternative to the use of diesel
multiple units on non-electrified lines,” said Gerhard Greiter, CEO Northeast Europe at Siemens Mobility.
Germany’s Landesanstalt Schienenfahrzeuge Baden-Württemberg (SFBW) has ordered 27 of the battery units for delivery next year, to run on the Ortenau regional system around Offenburg. The two-car trainsets for SFBW will each have 120 seats and be built at the Siemens Mobility plant in Krefeld.
Orders for the Mireo Plus B have also been placed from Germany’s Niederbarminer
While much of the hydrogen focus was on passenger trains, Pesa presented its quirkily styled SM42-6Dn shunter.
Eisenbahn (31 trains) and Denmark’s Midtyske Jernbaner (seven).
In addition to the Mireo Plus B, Siemens’ display included its hydrogen-powered Mireo Plus H (RAIL 966).
…while Alstom offers rides
It was in 2016 that Alstom displayed its hydrogen-powered Coradia iLint at InnoTrans. Now in regular service, the design was back in Berlin for 2022.
During the period of the trade fair, an iLint offered shuttles between the city’s Spandau and Ostbahnhof stations. It followed a demonstration 1,175km (730-mile) journey without refuelling the week before the event (RAIL 967).
Shunters powered by hydrogen… Poland’s rolling stock manufacturer Pesa and the PKN Orlen mineral oil company announced a tie-up at the trade fair, to collaborate on the rollout of hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure.
Among its vehicles at the show, Pesa displayed a hydrogen-powered shunter, the SM42-6Dn. A development of the conventional SM42, the new version incorporates two 85kW hydrogen cells and four 180kW traction motors. It is envisaged that the Bo-Bo will be used not only for shunting, but also light freight work.
Also incorporating remote control and an obstacle detection system, to allow the driver to operate it from the ground while shunting, the 70-tonne SM42-6Dn is Pesa’s first step into hydrogen. It is to be followed by a passenger train by 2025.
…or batteries
Remote-controlled, battery-powered, and offering 600 tonnes of traction force.
Those are three of the key attributes of the VLEX 40 road-rail vehicle from Vollert Anlagenbau, which can shunt four or five vehicles.
Individually controlled wheel hub motors are said to make the VLEX 40 both manoeuvrable and economical and the vehicle can move “quickly and easily from the track to the road and back again”.