Anhalt Region Receives Funding for Hydrogen Trains

In the region of Anhalt there is every reason to be happy. The players of the railway technology cluster “TRAINS” Dessau will receive funding of up to 12.2 million euros over the next five years.

In a nationwide competition organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and the Verein Bahntechnology Dessau were able to assert themselves as one of 20 projects out of 107 as part of the funding program “Change through Innovation in the Region – WIR!”.

The project of the TRAINS alliance, consisting of 46 regional partners, deals with the conversion of diesel power trains to CO2-avoiding engines for hydrogen and methane combustion. Put simply, hydrogen, produced with green electricity from water, wind and sun, will replace diesel as a fuel for multiple units in the near future. The first hydrogen train will be tested on the route between Dessau and Wörlitz. The partners will work closely with the “HYPOS” consortium in southern Saxony-Anhalt to produce and supply hydrogen from renewable sources.

“We are proud that we were able to prevail in the large field of applicants with our project. With the project, we are strengthening railway technology in the Anhalt region, securing existing jobs and creating the conditions for new jobs in rail technology with innovations and new value creation by converting existing multiple units to clean gas engines, thus transforming the region into an attractive technology region. ” , explains Guido Huke, Managing Director of Railistics GmbH and CEO of Bahntechnologie Dessau eV