Image: Latin Press.
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3 (RHC) — Indian Railways will launch hydrogen-powered trains on historic narrow-gauge routes from December this year, making them “completely green”.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnau said on Tuesday that the trains on the heritage routes will follow the model of the trains that run in China and Germany.
As a pilot project, a prototype train based on hydrogen fuel is being manufactured in one of its workshops, which will be tested in a section of the Indian state of Haryana.
There is a global push to replace diesel locomotives with hydrogen-powered engines where full electrification is difficult or too expensive, because they offer a quiet, zero-emissions alternative that can be financially competitive.
The German Coradia iLint is the world’s first passenger train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which produces electric power for traction.
The zero carbon emission train emits low noise levels, the exhaust gases are only condensed steam and water and it can travel a thousand kilometers (km) at a speed of 140 kilometers per hour (km/h).
China also recently launched Asia’s first hydrogen-powered trains for Urban Railways, which reach a range of 600 kilometers on a single tank, with a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour, according to reports. (Fountain: Latin press).
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