Welsh government funds hydrogen study

A four-month feasibility study into introducing hydrogen trains to the Transport for Wales network is under way.

The scheme aims to develop innovative solutions that will support the ten objectives of the Welsh Government’s Wales Hydrogen Pathway, incorporated into the Net Zero Wales 2021-25 carbon reduction plan. 

These focus on accelerating the development of technologies and processes to enable the deployment of hydrogen energy, which is considered critical for meeting the 2040 target of removing diesel-only trains from the network and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Funded by the Welsh Government’s Hydrogen Business Research and Innovation for Decarbonisation small business research initiative, the project is being led by Ballard Motive Solutions (formerly Arcola Energy), working with consultant Arup. BMS is a specialist in hydrogen and fuel cell system engineering and integration.

A final report will present recommendations on such aspects as operational, route, rolling stock and power requirements, as well as functional conditions for the development of train capabilities and capacity.

Although hydrogen trains have so far only been used in trials in the UK, they are already in passenger service elsewhere. The first was Alstom’s Coradia iLint, which entered traffic in Germany in 2018.

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