Two bright blue trains quietly pulled out of a station in northern Germany in 2018 C.E., powered not by diesel but by hydrogen — and in doing so, changed what clean rail travel looked like. The Coradia iLint, built by French train maker Alstom, became the world’s first hydrogen-powered train to enter commercial passenger service, running a 62-mile route through Lower Saxony.
At a glance
- Hydrogen train: Two Coradia iLint trains began running between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde, and Buxtehude — a route previously served by diesel trains.
- Zero-emissions rail: The trains produce only steam and water as byproducts, using fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity on board.
- Commercial deployment: Alstom planned to deliver 14 more of the trains to Lower Saxony state by 2021 C.E., with other German states also expressing interest.
How the technology works
The Coradia iLint doesn’t look revolutionary from the outside. But under the hood, it replaces the diesel combustion engine with a hydrogen fuel cell system that generates electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen. The only exhaust is steam and water.
Excess energy is stored in lithium-ion batteries on board, which smooths out power delivery and captures energy during braking. On a full tank, the train can travel about 600 miles — roughly the same range as a diesel equivalent. That matters: one of the persistent doubts about clean transport alternatives is whether they can match the practicality of what they replace.
Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge put it plainly at the launch ceremony in Bremervoerde, the station where the trains refuel: “The world’s first hydrogen train is entering into commercial service and is ready for serial production.”
Why non-electrified lines are the target
Germany has one of Europe’s more extensive rail networks, but a significant portion of it remains non-electrified. Running overhead power lines across every rural or low-traffic route is expensive and, in many cases, not economically justified. That leaves diesel trains as the default — and diesel trains contribute to the air pollution that German cities have been working hard to reduce.
Hydrogen trains offer a route around that problem. They don’t need electrified infrastructure. They run quietly. And according to Stefan Schrank, the project’s manager at Alstom, the economics can work out: “Sure, buying a hydrogen train is somewhat more expensive than a diesel train, but it is cheaper to run.”
That combination — lower operating costs, zero emissions, no need for overhead wires — makes the technology compelling for exactly the kind of regional lines where diesel has long been the only option. This story is part of a larger wave of clean energy milestones reshaping how countries power transportation.
A signal to the rest of the world
Germany’s launch immediately drew attention beyond its borders. Alstom confirmed that Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy, and Canada were all exploring hydrogen train technology. France — home of Alstom itself — announced it wanted the first hydrogen train running on French rails by 2022 C.E.
The ripple effect matters. When a new technology moves from prototype to commercial service, it shifts the conversation. It tells other operators, governments, and investors that the concept works in the real world — not just in a lab or a press release.
The Coradia iLint’s debut was that kind of signal. It didn’t just prove the engineering. It proved the model: hydrogen-powered trains can serve real passengers on real routes, on time, day after day.
What remains to be worked out
Hydrogen train technology still faces real obstacles. Green hydrogen — produced using renewable energy — remains significantly more expensive than diesel fuel at scale, and the infrastructure for producing, storing, and distributing hydrogen across a wider rail network is still developing. The initial cost of the trains themselves is higher than diesel alternatives, and the economics only improve as production scales up and hydrogen supply chains mature. Whether the technology can expand quickly enough to make a meaningful dent in rail emissions will depend on factors well beyond the trains themselves.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Guardian
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
- Germany’s hydrogen train revolution: what happened next
- Britain runs its electricity grid on zero carbon for a record stretch
- The Good News for Humankind archive on Germany
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