(Berlin/Munich) – Deutsche Bahn AG (DB) and Siemens Mobility GmbH presented the first elements of a hydrogen train called “Mireo Plus H” that is currently being developed in Krefeld. The vehicle is initially designed in two parts and has a range of 800 kilometers. A three-part variant should cover 1.000 kilometers.
The drive power of the first prototype is 1,7 megawatts, which, according to the company, is comparable to electric multiple units. The maximum speed is 160 kilometers per hour. The drive system consists of a fuel cell and a lithium-ion battery.
Refuel like a diesel railcar
The “Mireo Plus H” is intended to replace diesel multiple units in regional transport. According to the DB, it has developed a process with which, for the first time, refueling a hydrogen train is just as quick as refueling a diesel multiple unit. This is “an important aspect given the closely scheduled train sequences in regional transport,” explained the railway. The hydrogen is compressed in a compressor and stored in a mobile storage unit. Before refueling, the green fuel is processed and cooled. The hydrogen is produced in Tübingen by DB Energie using green electricity. The DB factory in Ulm is available for maintenance work.
First practical tests from 2023
The “Mireo Plus H” is scheduled to begin test drives in Baden-Württemberg next year. According to DB calculations, replacing diesel with hydrogen will result in savings of around 330 tons of CO2 per year for the route between Tübingen and Pforzheim. In general, the new development could save around 200.000 tons per year over a mileage of 520 kilometers and depending on the route profile.
From 2024, the vehicle will be in regular passenger service between Tübingen, Horb and Pforzheim for one year and will replace a diesel multiple unit running there. Around 120.000 kilometers of rail operations are planned. The route is particularly suitable because of the “timetable timing, which is exemplary for regional transport, and the varied topography”.
Siemens Mobility and Deutsche Bahn want to present the “Mireo Plus H” at the “InnoTrans 2022” railway technology trade fair in Berlin in September.
Alstom is already delivering
However, Siemens is not the first railway technology company with hydrogen trains. The French manufacturer Alstom presented its “Coradia iLint” at the “InnoTrans 2016” trade fair. Railway companies in several European countries have now tested the train and expressed interest in it. FNM SpA (Ferrovie Nord Milano) in Italy ordered at least six trains from Alstom - they are already running in northern Germany.
Furthermore, just last week, on May 18, Alstom announced that it had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Polish oil company PKN Orlen for the supply of environmentally friendly trains and hydrogen refueling infrastructure. Accordingly, the first vehicles are expected to roll on regional lines within two years.
Demand and inventory in Germany
DB Regio is by far the largest owner of multiple units in Germany (around two thirds including S-Bahn trains), according to an inventory by the Federal Ministry of Transport (formerly BMVI, now Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport BMIV). However, the share of private railway companies has risen sharply in recent years, according to the 2020 study.
By far the two most common concepts in regional and local transport are electric and diesel multiple units. At the end of 2019, around 6.100 multiple units were in use in Germany. Of this, around 55 percent (3.400 trains) were electric multiple units for passenger transport. The fleet in Germany had an average age of just 13 years and was “very young compared to the European average”.
The majority of the recorded multiple units for passenger transport were diesel vehicles (2.700 trains). Their use is mostly limited to local and (inter) regional transport on non-electrified routes. A large part of this fleet was purchased in the early 2000s and has an average age of around 18 years. This means that they will be replaced “in the next ten years”.
LNGV and RMV use “iLint”
The innovative locomotives, on the other hand, only formed a small sub-fleet of less than 20 trains at the time of the investigation. These are equipped with an alternative drive such as a fuel cell or battery.
The Lower Saxony State Transport Company (LVGN) now operates 14 “iLint” trains from Alstom. The vehicle is used in regular passenger service between Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude.
However, the Rhein Main Verkehrsverbund (RMV) will soon top this: In 2019, the company ordered 500 “iLint” fuel cell trains for its Taunus network for more than 27 million euros, which, according to the company, will go into operation at the end of 2022 with the 2023 annual timetable and replace previously diesel-powered trains on three regional routes. The range is 1.000 kilometers on one tank of fuel. A hydrogen filling station is being built on the site of the Höchst Industrial Park in Frankfurt. According to RMV, the state of Hesse is funding their construction with 60 percent (2,5 million euros) of the costs incurred.
Business with innovative drives is increasing
In the new vehicle business, trains powered by hydrogen or battery technology would overtake the classic diesel multiple unit by the middle of the decade, according to the BMVI study. If the authors' forecasts are correct, the plan by Deutsche Bahn and Siemens to invest in innovative hydrogen trains should develop into a worthwhile business.
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Deutsche Bahn and Siemens Mobility present the new hydrogen train (from left to right): Michael Peter, CEO Siemens Mobility, Michael Theurer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMDV Daniela Gerd tom Markotten, Board Member for Digitalization & Technology at Deutsche Bahn. © Deutsche Bahn AG / Volker Emersleben
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The “H2goesRail” project is being funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport with a total of 13,74 million euros as part of the National Innovation Program for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology. © Deutsche Bahn / Siemens Mobility
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Alstom is already using the “iLint” hydrogen train – also in Germany. © Alstom
The study “Innovative railcars” from the Federal Ministry of Transport (November 2020) is available free of charge as a PDF (147 pages).
