Next Budget will have something on hydrogen-powered trains

The Swarajya magazine has reported that the forthcoming Budget (February 1) will have something for hydrogen-powered trains.

Quoting a 'senior railway official', the news report says that "plans are afoot" for the induction of light-weight aluminium coaches and hydrogen-powered trains. The report also mentions that the Indian Railways is interested in hyperloop technology for high-speed transport. 

The report doesn't have more details, but it may be remembered that in August 2021, the Indian Railways Organisation of Alternate Fuel (by the way, so many people in India use 'alternate' when they mean 'alternative', even though the two words have completely different meanings) had issued a tender inviting bids for running a two Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train between Sonipat and Jind in north India, a distance of 89 km.

                               Alstom's Corodia iLint train in France is the only train today that runs on hydrogen

"Two hybrid locos will be subsequently converted on the basis of hydrogen fuel cell power movement, with no change in the driving console," the Railways had said. It said that the project would be completed by March 2024. 

Comment

Hydrogen (Fuel Cell) powered trains will be most certainly high on the government's agenda because it can provide a big demand push. It is easy for the government to get its own department --the Indian Railways -- to drive (pun intended) hydrogen in India. The Indian Railways, which is not a company but a part of the government gets its funds from the national Budget. A large demand from the Railways will provide the scale effect to bring down costs of green hydrogen.