Hydrogen trains in regular service

HYDROGEN powered Alstom iLINT trains began regular commercial passenger service for the first time anywhere in the world on July 25, in Germany, on the line from Cuxhaven to Buxtehude via Bremervörde, near Hamburg. Fourteen two-car Class 554 Alstom ‘iLINT’ units were built by Alstom at Salzgitter, in Germany, for the service. Owned by the state of Niedersachsen, an official launch is planned later this year. The iLINT prototypes had previously been tested on the same route in 2018.

The trains are based in Bremervörde where a hydrogen fuelling station has been built, initially using hydrogen supplied by the chemical industry made from fossil fuels, although it is planned by 2024 to use ‘green hydrogen’ made on-site in Bremervörde by electrolysis of water using power generated by solar panels and wind turbines.