China’s CRRC Corporation Limited launches Hydrogen Urban Train, first in Asia and second such train in the world, after Germany launched Green Train a few months back, Hydrogen train gets top speed of 160 km/h, and operational range The range without refueling is 600 km. German trains, on the other hand, have been beaten by Alstom’s Coradia iLint serial train covering a record distance of 1175 kilometers this September. On the other hand, Indian Railways is also moving fast towards inducting the ‘world’s greenest train’ soon.
According to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, India is likely to get its first indigenous hydrogen trains by December 2023. According to the minister, like the Vande Bharat Express, the Indian Railways is working on new eco-friendly trains and engineers are designing them. it. “The design process is already underway and we should be able to launch the first hydrogen train in the country by December 2023,” he added.
CRRC Hydrogen Train: A Glance
The hydrogen train was developed on the basis of the Fuxing high-speed platform and consists of 4 cars. The CRRC also introduced such shunting locomotives in 2021, and hydrogen trams were first produced in the mid-2010s. The train will also get digital solutions from CRRC including GoA2 automation, component monitoring sensors and 5G data transmission equipment. It is expected that operation of the train will reduce CO2 emissions compared to diesel traction by 10 tons per year.
world’s first hydrogen train
Earlier, Germany became the first country to operate the world’s first hydrogen-powered passenger train fleet. According to the German government, it will replace 15 diesel trains that previously operated on tracks lacking power supplies in Lower Saxony, Germany. The fleet includes 14 trains that use fuel cells to generate electricity, making it the cleanest train fleet ever.
Hydrogen has been seen as a powerful replacement for fossil fuels in the transportation industry. Smaller size fuel cells are also being developed for their use in cars. However, the technology is still in its infancy for a mass-market product. The challenge of hydrogen and its retailing is a challenge that still needs to be overcome.