In Germany, the first hydrogen-powered train goes into service

In Germany, the first fourteen sets of hydrogen-powered passenger trains are scheduled to depart on a regular regional route in March next year. Trains will be operated by the German carrier EVB between the Lower Saxon cities of Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven. The carrier's goal is to gradually replace the fleet of diesel locomotives, which are much less environmentally friendly than hydrogen trains. This was reported by Bloomberg. The electric motors of the trainsets are powered by a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, and Alstom has received orders for such trains from other countries. Rival Alstom, Siemens AG, expects that hydrogen-powered trains will increase in the coming years and will eventually exceed the total number of currently used diesel locomotives. It sees the reason in the stricter rules on emissions. This week, in Brussels, Belgium, they approved a new European legislation that turns the climate goals so far called into legal obligations. This will force the whole European Union to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly, and this should be reflected in a number of industries, including transport. The European Union is set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. However, the target will not apply to individual countries, but to the Union as a whole. In addition, the negotiators have agreed to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The regulation has yet to be approved by the plenary of the European Parliament and the ministers of the Member States. Alstom expects that this move will require the replacement of more than 5,000 passenger train units across Europe, which currently use diesel as fuel. Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom are countries where the share of diesel locomotives is huge and without changes in the field of train transport it will not be possible to meet the binding climate targets. The whole process could also be accelerated by insufficient electrification of train tracks, which will accelerate the pressure to deploy more climate-friendly locomotives. The Austrian railway carrier ÖBB tested hydrogen-powered trains from Alstom in the autumn of last year, and the results were successful. Soon, such trains should run regularly on many Austrian regional lines. Here, too, diesel locomotives should ideally cease to be in operation in the coming years.