Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said India is planning to roll out the hydrogen trains on the heritage routes from December 2023.
Indian Railways Latest News Today: Drawing inspiration from the hydrogen trains running in China and Germany, Indian Railways on Tuesday said it is planning to roll out hydrogen-powered trains on its narrow-gauge heritage routes by December 2023, turning them “completely green”. Right now, the railways are developing a prototype of a hydrogen fuel-based train at the Northern Railway workshop which will test-run on the Sonipat-Jind section in Haryana.
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Giving details, Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said India is planning to roll out the hydrogen trains on the heritage routes from December 2023.
“We will roll out the hydrogen trains on the heritage routes from December 2023. This will mean that these heritage routes will go completely green,” said Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Ashwini Vaishnaw said the trains will be on the lines of those running in China and Germany.
As a pilot project, the railways is manufacturing a prototype of hydrogen fuel-based train at the Northern Railway workshop. It would be test-run on the Sonipat-Jind section in Haryana.
Worldwide, there is a bid to replace diesel-powered locomotives with hydrogen-propelled engines wherever full electrification is difficult or too expensive as it offers an emission-free, quiet alternative that can be economically competitive.
Germany’s Coradia iLint is the world’s first passenger train powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which produces electrical power for traction. This zero-emission train emits low levels of noise, with exhaust being only steam and condensed water. This train can run 1000 km at a speed of 140kmph at one go. This train was being tested in Germany since 2018.
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China too recently launched Asia’s first hydrogen-powered trains for the Urban Railways. It gets a range of 600 km on a single tank, with a top speed of 160 kmph, according to reports.
Indian Railways’ heritage routes, which primarily run on diesel are — Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Kalka Shimla Railway, Matheran Hill Railway, Kangra Valley, Bilmora Waghai and Marwar-Devgarh Madriya. All are narrow gauge.
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The new hydrogen-powered trains will be called Vande Metro and will be manufactured in large numbers to replace the current set of trains that were manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s.
