World's largest hydrogen train fleet still not fully operational six months after service began

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Fri Mar 17, 2023: Smithsonian Magazine: North America's First Hydrogen-Powered Train Will Debut This Summer

Wed Sep 21, 2022: Stadler unveils first hydrogen train for U.S., announces order for up to 29 more

Wed Aug 24, 2022: The world's first hydrogen-powered passenger trains are here

The 'misery' line | World’s largest hydrogen train fleet still not fully operational six months after service began

German transport authority will provide free travel for two months to compensate fed-up passengers for the ‘incredible amount of bad public transport’

7 June 2023 8:01 GMT UPDATED 7 June 2023 8:32 GMT
By Leigh Collins

A new €500m ($530m) fleet of 27 hydrogen trains was scheduled to be in operation on four railway lines to the German city of Frankfurt last December, but only 12 trains are currently in use on one line, with the full complement not expected to be ready until September at the earliest. ... The ongoing saga reads like a comedy of errors.

The first six Coradia iLint H2 trains delivered by manufacturer Alstom last year proved to be defective — requiring retrofitting of new hardware and software components — although two did go into service on the RB15 line on the planned start date, 11 December 2022. ... Then, many of the diesel locomotives brought in as temporary replacements for the missing trains also had problems, forcing the local rail operator, Start Deutschland, to put on a replacement bus service that has now been in place for the past six months — the cost of which is apparently being charged to Alstom.

Local press also reported difficulties with the new hydrogen refuelling station in the winter, but Hydrogen Insight was unable to verify those. ... According to RMV, the local-authority-owned transport authority that ordered the hydrogen trains, diesel locomotives have finally been removed from the RB15 line, with the 12 functioning H2 trains sufficient for its operation.

However, the bus replacement service is still needed on the mountainous route — but not for a lack of working trains. ... The months of problems and lack of working trains — not to mention the inability to train some of the drivers on the new H2 locomotives due to a lack of them being available — meant that shifts could not be planned, and the uncertainty has proved too much for many employees.

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