UK conducts hydrogen-powered train testing

Thursday, October 8, 2020

Recently UK conducted mainline testing of the country’s first hydrogen-powered train as an attempt to minimise carbon emission from rail network. Trail run has begun of the HydroFLEX hydrogen train since the initiation of the project work.

HydroFLEX is created by the University of Birmingham and rolling stock leasing company Porterbrook with an investment of £750,000 from the Department for Transport (DfT). Besides their support, the builders also invested over £1m on the project and assisted in expected delivery.

The hydrogen-powered trains are emission-free and use hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, water and heat. The train project is expected to be completed and available for general public by 2023, this new technology will be retrofitted on existing diesel trains to make rail journeys greener.

According to the UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, after pandemic as the business are on a road to recovery, it is essential to improve mobility by enhancing the country’s transportation system and thus begins the focus on incorporating world class transportation system in commuting along UK. Hence to grow and sustain in an environment friendly way, he further added the transport division is happy with this new found plans of incorporating the hydrogen power to improve vehicle performance in a greener way.

Shapps also made it official that there are plans to develop Tees Valley as a hydrogen transport hub, which will help in bringing together representatives from academia, industry and government to expedite the transformation, creating hundreds of jobs in the process.

« Back to Page