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Trains on hydrogen fuel cells by end of year: Govt
India will roll out trains running on hydrogen fuel cells on some of its tourist services by the end of the year, Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday, announcing the names of eight heritage route services that “will go green”.
India will roll out trains running on hydrogen fuel cells on some of its tourist services by the end of the year, Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday, announcing the names of eight heritage route services that “will go green”.
Hydrogen fuel cells are increasingly being tried as a clean energy technology in the transportation sector, with several countries having already begun running light capacity services that leave no emission apart from water.
“The first train under ‘Hydrogen for Heritage’ will commence operations from December 2023, implying that trains in the heritage routes will go green,” Vaishnaw said, adding that the locomotives will still retain the look of a steam engine to stick to its heritage ethos.
The routes on which these trains will be rolled out are Kalka-Shimla, Matheran Hill, Darjeeling Himalayan, Kangra valley, Bilmora-Waghai, Mhow-Patalpani, Nilgiri Mountain and Marwar- Devgarh Madriya. Currently, trains on these routes largely run on diesel.
Under the appearance, the new will be a completely different technology. Each of the coaches in the trains, which run on narrow gauges and are meant for leisure instead of transportation, will be powered by their own hydrogen cell motor, the minister explained.
Vaishnaw said each of the trains will have four coaches.
A prototype of these trains is being made at the Northern Railways’ workshop, and trial runs will be conducted in Sonipat section in Haryana. Officials did not say by when they expect the trials to complete.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said finessing such clean technology is routinely challenging because some 500kw of power will be needed for these light trains, and hydrogen fuel cells typically produce very low amounts.
“To begin with, we will be operating one such train on all heritage routes and will gradually add more,” a railways official said, asking not to be named. He clarified that these trains will only operate on narrow gauge (narrower than the standard 1,435-mm tracks) as most of the rail network is electrified.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had, on August 15, 2021, formally announced the launch of a National Hydrogen Mission to accelerate plans to generate the carbon-free fuel from renewables and had set a target of 2047 for India to achieve self-reliance in energy.
The transport sector is one of the largest sources of emissions of greenhouse gases, and efforts are underway globally to include clean fuels such as hydrogen fuel cells.
Germany runs several of Coradia iLint trains, made by French company Alstom as the world’s first passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel cell.
The trains commenced operations after a two-year test run, which began in September 2018, and can cover 1,000km at a speed of around 140kmph.
