Alstom's hydrogen train successfully completes three months of testing in Austria

Alstom's Coradia iLint, the world's first hydrogen fuel cell train, has just completed three months of successful test operation on ÖBB's (Austrian Federal Railways) regional lines. This comes just after it received official approval from the highest railway authority in the country, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK).

These important milestones make Austria the second country in Europe, after Germany, to fully approve of the Coradia iLint as an emission-free alternative to diesel multiple units. Alstom once again underlines its world-leading position in hydrogen mobility by rail - no other train manufacturer can currently offer a proven, tested hydrogen train ready for series production.

"We are immensely proud to confirm that the Coradia iLint has proven that it is suitable for all service routes – even on steep sections its performance is convincing. Not to mention our pride in the fact that the train has now received official approval in Austria. I also congratulate OBB for being a pioneer in testing hydrogen technology on rail in Austria," said Gian Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President of Alstom Europe.

During the three months of testing on four demanding routes in southern Lower Austria, Vienna and eastern Styria, ÖBB and its passengers witnessed operability and performance of the new drive technology based on fuel cells - even on steep track sections and under the most varied climatic conditions. ÖBB is very positive about the hydrogen train and the test run. Following the successful operation in Austria, the data collected will now be analysed to further perfect the technology for the context.

An overview of Alstom's hydrogen train milestones:

• 27 November 2020

Successful end of a three-month test operation by ÖBB in regular passenger service

• October 2020

Approval of the Coradia iLint as the only hydrogen train for the Austrian railway network by the Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK)

• March 2020

Alstom has successfully tested its Coradia iLint fuel cell train for ten days on the 65 km route between Groningen and Leeuwarden in the Dutch province of Groningen.

• May 2019

RMV's subsidiary fahma orders the world's largest fleet of fuel cell trains from Alstom. 27 fuel cell trains will replace diesel multiple units on four regional train lines in the Taunus region from 2022. This brings the total number of vehicles sold to 41.

• January/February 2019

Coradia iLint at "Rail Show" in six federal states

• September 2018-February 2020

After 530 days and more than 180,000 driven covered, the successful trial operation of the world's first two hydrogen trains in the Weser-Elbe network comes to an end.

• July 2018

Approval for passenger transport on the German public network

• March/April 2017

First test runs of the Coradia iLint on the company's own track in Salzgitter at 80 km/h and in Velim (Czech Republic) at up to 140 km/h.

• November 2017

Alstom and the Local Transport Authority of Lower Saxony (Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen, LNVG) sign a contract for 14 Coradia iLint trains to replace the existing diesel trains from the beginning of 2022.

• September 2016

Alstom unveils its Coradia iLint zero-emission train at the InnoTrans fair.

Source : Alstom

Photo Credit : Alstom - Christophe Busse