Indian Railways has appointed Germany’s TUV-SUD to conduct a third-party safety audit for the country’s first hydrogen train. of ET Report According to , the trial run for this rolling stock is estimated to begin in December 2024. After this, India, along with Germany, France, Sweden and China, will become the fifth country in the world to operate trains running on hydrogen.
Reports suggest that five hydrogen fuel cell based tower cars (maintenance vehicles) are also being developed, each of which is estimated to cost Rs 10 crore per unit. “Under the Hydrogen for Heritage initiative, Indian Railways will have 35 trains at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore per train, along with an investment of Rs 70 crore in ground infrastructure per route on various heritage or hilly routes,” an official told ET. ‘
The official also said that the system integration unit battery and two fuel unit synchronization testing have been successfully completed. The new hydrogen train is going to run on the Jind-Sonipat section of Northern Railway. It is also reported that integration of the prototype train has been planned at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.
The report further states that the hydrogen for the train in Haryana will be provided by a 1-MW polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolyzer located in Jind. It is also reported that the fueling infrastructure at Jind will also have 3,000 kg hydrogen storage, hydrogen compressor and two hydrogen dispensers with pre-cooler integration, which will enable faster refueling of trains.