Romania approves plan to purchase hydrogen trains

Romania’s government will buy a dozen hydrogen trains in a move to improve the country’s underdeveloped railway network.

The trains, which will cost in excess of one billion euros, will be financed by the country’s recovery and resilience plan, with funding from the EU.

Trains

Deputy Transport Minister Irinel Scriosteanu announced the development on social media this week.

The trains will run from the capital to neighboring counties and parts of southern Romania where there isn’t a modern rail network.

The pilot project forsees the purchase of 12 vehicles with 160 seats each. The total cost of 973 million euros minus VAT includes the associated hydrogen fuelling facilities, plus 30 years’ worth of train maintenance, Railtech.com reports.

The trains will run on non-electrified routes including from Bucharest’s Gara de Nord to to Bucharest Airport (every half hour) and on routes from Bucharest City and the neighboring Ilfov County to the counties of Argeș, Dâmbovița as well as Giurgiu, south of the capital.

Bikes

“Thanks to the reliability of the new vehicles”, the trains will also reach Olt and Dolj counties, Mr Scriosteanu said.

Bikes will be allowed on the trains which will also have access for people with diasbilities.

He posted a picture of an Alstom hydrogen train running in Austria on social media. The government has yet to announce a supplier for the project.

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It launched a market consultation for the hydrogen trains in March this year. The Romanian Railway Authority signed a contract with Alstom for the delivery of 20 Coradia Stream trains for operations on electrified lines,  the first contract for the rolling stock manufacturer in Romania.

National Recovery and Resilience Program

The financing of the investment project will come from non-refundable EU – through Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Program –  and from the transport ministry’s  own budget.

In addition to the hydrogen trains, Romania will also study a first high-speed railway and carry out works to improve bottlenecks in the rail infrastructure as part of the recovery plan. In total, 3.9 billion euros of the Recovery and Resilience Plan will go to rail.

By replacing diesel traction with electric traction based on hydrogen fuel cells, transport emissions are reduced by 18,348 tons of CO2 and 306 tons of NOx per year, the equivalent of more  600,000 euros per year

Hydrogen fuel cells

According to the Romanian ministry, some 18,348 tonnes of CO2  and 306 tonnes of NOx per year can be avoided by replacing diesel traction with electric traction based on hydrogen fuel cells.

It should contribute to reaching net-zero pollution in 2050, the objectives of the European and national strategy.

 

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