World's first hydrogen train Coradia iLint honoured

European Railway Award 2021 received by LNVG operator for pioneering with Alstom

25 January 2021 – Alstom's innovative hydrogen train project Coradia iLint, commissioned by Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LNVG), has been honoured with this year's European Railway Award. Carmen Schwabl, Managing Director at LNVG, accepted the award at an online ceremony. Together with its project partners, LNVG has started the initiative to test hydrogen as a fuel in regular rail passenger transport.

Alstom's Coradia iLint was nominated for the award by the jury of railway industry CEOs, EU decision-makers, previous winners and selected journalists. In its statement, the jury praised the outstanding cooperation between the project partners LNVG, Alstom, the Federal State of Lower Saxoy, Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH (evb), the gas and engineering company Linde. Alstom, together with its partners, has proven with the project that hydrogen propulsion is a reliable and emission-free alternative to diesel-powered regional trains on non-electrified lines.

“It is not a matter of course that a public authority triggers and accompanies a technological development of this scope. With our partners in the test phase, a real-world premiere in passenger service in Lower Saxony has been achieved,” said Carmen Schwabl, Managing Director of LNVG.  “Our goal was to offer a true alternative to diesel, to make it market-ready and to use it in a first network in daily passenger operation.”

From September 2018 to end of February 2020, two Coradia iLint trains from Alstom were successfully covering more than 180,000 kilometres in regular passenger service. Serial production of this ground-breaking innovation for rail transport is currently underway. The first hydrogen-powered series trains will be in regular service in Germany from 2022.

"We are very pleased that our client LNVG has been awarded for the innovative hydrogen train project. Our joint project Coradia iLint shows a courageous commitment to green mobility together with state-of-the-art technology. Today, we can be very proud of our innovative Coradia Ilint, the world's first and only existing hydrogen train,” said Gian Luca Erbacci, Senior Vice President Europe at Alstom.

About the Coradia iLint

Coradia iLint is the first passenger train in the world to be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, which generates electrical energy for propulsion. This completely emission-free train is quiet and emits only water vapor and condensation water. The train features several different innovations: clean energy conversion, flexible energy storage in batteries and intelligent management of motive power and available energy. Designed specifically for use on non-electrified lines, it enables clean, sustainable train operations.

About European Railway Award

The European Railway Award, organized by UNIFE, the European Association of Railway Suppliers, and CER, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies, has been honouring outstanding achievements in the development of economically and ecologically sustainable rail transport every year since 2007.