After ten days of successful tests, Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen train ran 65 kilometres of line between Groningen and Leeuwarden in the northern area of the Netherlands.
The tests follow 18 successful months of passenger service on the Buxtehude–Bremervörde–Bremerhaven–Cuxhaven line in Germany, where a total of 41 Coradia iLint have already been commissioned.
The latest tests have made the Netherlands the second country in Europe where the train has run effectively and shown itself to be an emissions-free solution for non-electrified lines.
Bernard Belvaux, Managing Director of Alstom Benelux, said: “The tests in the Netherlands demonstrate how our hydrogen train is mature in terms of availability and reliability, providing the same performance as traditional regional trains, but with the benefit of low noise and zero emissions.
It is also easy to integrate in an existing fleet and is compliant with all safety regulations. The Coradia iLint hydrogen train is a reliable emission-free train ready to help transport us to a carbon-neutral Europe.”
The Coradia iLint is the world’s first regional passenger train to enter service equipped with fuel cells to convert hydrogen and oxygen into electricity, thus eliminating pollutant emissions related to propulsion. The completely train is quiet, and its only emission is water.
Purpose-built for use on non-electrified lines, it provides clean, sustainable traction with no sacrifice in performance. It has a range of approximately 1000 kilometres – the same as equivalent-size diesel multiple units. The train is developed and produced by the Alstom teams in Salzgitter, Germany and Tarbes, France.
The Dutch railway network has approximatively 1,000 kilometres of non-electrified line on which around 100 diesel trains currently operate daily.
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