Alstom is a global giant in the world of smart and sustainable mobility and has now proved that its hydrogen-powered solutions are successful in long-distance transport.

The impressive journey saw a regularly produced Coradia iLint train which is the world’s first train to run on a hydrogen fuel cell, make the long journey with no need to refill its hydrogen tank with emissions of water only whilst running with extremely low levels of noise.

The train which took part in the journey was part of a fleet owned by Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) and is the transport authority for Lower Saxony.

The vehicle used has taken part in regular passenger service since the middle of August on the Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH (evb). The innovative project has also seen Alstom work with Linde which is a gas and engineering company.

Henri Poupart-Lafarge, CEO and Chairman of the Board at Alstom said:

“We are pleased to be leading innovation in this area as the first railway manufacturer in the world to offer a passenger train based on hydrogen technology. With this journey, we have provided further proof that our hydrogen trains have all the prerequisites to replace diesel vehicles”

“We are immensely proud of the pioneering work we have done in introducing hydrogen to rail transport.”

The journey began in Bremervorde and followed a route which saw the Coradia iLint travel right across Germany from Lower Saxony where Alstom created the hydrogen-fuelled train. The train travelled through Hesse, Bavaria and on to Burghausen which is close to the German Austrian border before reaching its final stop in Munich. The impressive journey does not end there, as the train will next head for Berlin where it will undertake several trips as part of InnoTrans 2022 which is a premier International Trade Fair for Transport Technology and will take place from the 20th to the 23rd of September.

With a huge interest in sustainable mobility internationally, the Coradia iLint trains are already proving popular with Alstom taking an order to supply 27 for use in the Frankfurt Metropolitan area alongside 14 currently operating in Lower Saxony. Six Corardia Stream hydrogen trains are also being built by Alstom in the Lombardy region of Italy with a contract which features an option to increase by a further eight vehicles.

To find out more about the record-breaking journey please visit: https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2022/9/alstoms-coradia-ilint-successfully-travels-1175-km-without-refueling-its

The amazing Coradia iLint sees several innovations including clean energy conversion, flexible energy storage in batteries, and intelligent management of motive power and available energy. The trains were specially designed to be used on non-electrified lines whilst providing a clean and sustainable train service with excellent performance.