Bremervorde: Germany on Monday rolled out the world's first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology.
Two bright blue Coradia iLint trains, built by French TGV-maker Alstom, began running a 100-kilometre route between the towns and cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany - a stretch normally plied by diesel trains.
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"The world's first hydrogen train is entering into commercial service and is ready for serial production," Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge said at an unveiling ceremony in Bremervoerde, the station where the trains will be refuelled with hydrogen.
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Alstom has said it plans to deliver another 14 of the zero-emissions trains to Lower Saxony state by 2021, with other German states also expressing an interest.
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Hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions.
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Excess energy is stored in ion lithium batteries on board the train.
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The Coradia iLint trains can run for around 1,000 kilometres on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains.
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Alstom is betting on the technology as a greener, quieter alternative to diesel on non-electrified railway lines - an attractive prospect to many German cities scrambling to combat air pollution.
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"Sure, buying a hydrogen train is somewhat more expensive than a diesel train, but it is cheaper to run," Stefan Schrank, the project's manager at Alstom, told AFP.
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Other countries are also looking into hydrogen trains, Alstom said, including Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Canada.
![Germany rolls out world's first hydrogen train | Video Germany rolls out world's first hydrogen train | Video](https://img.onmanorama.com/content/dam/mm/en/business/autos/images/2018/9/20/hydrogen-train-5.jpg.transform/576x300/image.jpg)
In France, the government has already said it wants the first hydrogen train to be on the rails by 2022.
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