A hydrogen train developed by Alstom has entered service in North America for the first time.
The Coradia iLint, will be part of a demonstration project, and it is hoped will kickstart the development of hydrogen propulsion technology system within the North American market.
The service will be running in Quebec and will be assessed by The Hydrogen Research Institute of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and Alstom.
The Coradia iLint has been in service in Europe since 2018 after entering its first commercial service in Europe. Since then, it has covered 220,000 kilometres in eight different countries.
The train itself, which is designed to run on non-electrified lines is powered by a hydrogen fuel cell which emits only water vapour during transit and can run at a top speed of 140 kilometres per hour.
Michael Keroullé, President of Alstom Americas. “Alstom is fully involved in the decarbonization of mobility in the world and particularly in America. Hydrogen technology offers an alternative to diesel and demonstrates our ability to provide more sustainable mobility solutions to our customers, agencies and operators, as well as passengers. It will also provide an extraordinary showcase for Quebec’s green hydrogen ecosystem, which is under development.”
A new innovation centre has been opened by Alstom alongside the new commercial service will focus on developing sustainable mobility solutions including developing hybrid, battery or hydrogen-propulsion platforms, designed specifically for the North American market.
The demonstration project has been a collaboration between multiple partners, with fuel cells provided by Accelera by Cummins with the green hydrogen provided by Harnois Energies in Quebec.
Accelera continues to innovate, we’re guiding customers through energy transition roadmaps by providing end-to-end hydrogen solutions,” said Alison Trueblood, General Manager of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies at Accelera. “This includes advancing traditional transportation methods, like passenger trains, through the adoption of zero-emission technologies and enabling industry infrastructure with hydrogen-producing electrolyzers.”
Photo Credit: Alstom
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