World’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered trains enter service in Germany

Capable of travelling at up to 140km/h, the two Alstom Coradia iLint trains will serve a 100km route running between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude. The line was previously served by diesel units operated by Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser (EVB).

The new trains will be fuelled at a mobile hydrogen filling station, where gaseous hydrogen will be pumped into the trains from a 40-foot-high steel container at Bremervörde station. According to Alstom, one tank will provide enough fuel for 1000km of travel.

A stationary filling station on EVB premises is scheduled to go into operation in 2021, when Alstom will deliver a further 14 Coradia iLint trains to the Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG) transport authority at a cost of €81m.

"The world’s first hydrogen fuel cell train is entering passenger service and is ready for serial production,” said Henri Poupart-Lafarge, chairman and CEO of Alstom. “The Coradia iLint heralds a new era in emission-free rail transport. It is an innovation that results from French-German teamwork and exemplifies successful cross-border cooperation.”