A German rail operator had to switch back to diesel trains after a disruption in hydrogen supply rendered its fuel cell locomotives inoperable.
Having deployed 14 Alstom Coradia iLint trains to replace 15 diesel units operating on its route between Cuxhaven and Buxtehude in 2022, operator EVB said it will being using its “emergency fleet” of five diesel railcars and cancelling some journeys due to hydrogen supply disruption.
In a statement released on Tuesday (September 10), EVB said its supplier, Linde, informed it of delivery problems late last Friday, forcing the operator to take measures to reduce its consumption of the energy carrier.
Over the weekend, it changed double traction trains using two hydrogen units to be replaced by single car alternatives and is now using diesel “wherever possible.”
However, despite its “emergency fleet” of five diesel units being deployed, it is having to cancel some services.
EVB has been using Linde as its hydrogen supplier since the trains went into operation, while it waits for its own green hydrogen production capacity to be set up in Bremervörde.
Read more: Linde claims world first hydrogen refuelling system for passenger trains
Christoph Grimm, Managing Director of EVB, hit out at Linde for not communicating the supply disruption sooner.
“The supplier knew about the failure of the source long in advance,” he said in the company’s statement. “In such case, reliable alternative plans must be in place.”
Funded by €85m from the Lower Saxony Ministry of Transport and €8.4m from the German Government, Grimm added that the hydrogen train effort was a reference project that had attracted “worldwide attention.”
“Above all, we are there for our passengers every day. Without hydrogen, the trains stand still. This must not happen,” he concluded.
H2 View reached out to Linde for comment but had received no response at the time of publishing.
Hydrogen rail development in Europe
© Siemens Mobility
Much noise has been made about hydrogen rail transport in recent months. With Europe leading the charge for the use case, media reports have cited various teething issues in the regions, while others have written off its potential altogether.
While large sums of money are being put towards trialling and commercially running hydrogen-powered trains to cover the gap in cost compared with conventional trains in the union, the application, as with any emerging technology, appears to be facing some challenges.
Europe is no stranger to rail. With over 200,000km of railway across the bloc in 20201, the transportation method continues to play a key role in the continent. In 2020, passengers travelled approximately 378 billion passenger kilometres, making it the second-largest market for rail passenger traffic globally2, according to Statista.
Seen as the most sustainable form of land transport, representing less than 0.5% of total EU carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, railway operators and train manufacturers are eyeing hydrogen as a means to further decarbonise transport.
Over the last decades, a significant portion of European rail operators has shifted away from diesel-powered fleets, partly thanks to 60% of the continent’s main rail lines already being electrified and 80% of traffic running on those lines3.
However, with increasing rail demand looking set to return to pre-pandemic levels, economic limits to complete rail electrification, there are challenges that will require a coordinated effort to establish a clean, competitive, and efficient next generation of railway…
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