The European authorities want the Gran Canaria railway model to be exemplary and decarbonized. And that is what an Alstom train called Coradia does. The Coradia iLint has been fully authorized to operate on the Austrian and German rail network and has successfully completed passenger operation trials carried out with Austrian operator ÖBB. As it uses a hydrogen battery, the Administration saves a fortune on catenaries (in addition to monitoring them) and cables.
Alstom's Coradia iLint, the world's first hydrogen fuel cell train, has passed tests in commercial passenger operation on ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railways) regional lines. In parallel, official approval has been received from the country's highest railway authority, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK) to operate on the country's railway network. These milestones make Austria the second country in Europe, after Germany, to fully approve the Coradia iLint as an emissions-free alternative to diesel units. Alstom's leadership in hydrogen mobility systems for the railway sector is confirmed once again. No other manufacturer can currently offer a tested and validated hydrogen train, ready for series production.
Testing on four demanding routes in southern Lower Austria, Vienna and eastern Styria, both operator ÖBB and its passengers have witnessed the operability and performance of the new fuel cell-based propulsion technology, even in steep sections of road and in diverse weather conditions. ÖBB has evaluated the hydrogen train and the tests carried out very positively. The data collected during this successful operation in Austria will be analyzed to further refine the technology in different contexts.