Lighthouse project for mobility without pollutants / Locally emission-free with hydrogen from the Industriepark Höchst

At the push of a button into the hydrogen age - it doesn't go that fast after all. But at least a small step in this direction is being taken in Frankfurt today. This Alstom hydrogen train is one of 27 trains that will be running on several routes in the region from December. This is an important start, says Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing.

In Frankfurt, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) together with Federal Minister of Transport Dr. Volker Wissing, State Secretary Jens Deutschendorf, the district administrator of the Hochtaunus district and deputy RMV supervisory board chairman Ulrich Krebs, the personal advisor for mobility for the city of Frankfurt Wolfgang Siefert, DB board member Evelyn Palla, the president of the Alstom region DACH, Müslüm Yakisan, and Dr. Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director of Infraserv Höchst, presented the first fuel cell train, which will be on the road in the Taunus network from December. After presenting the train in the DB workshop in Griesheim, a test drive led to the new hydrogen filling station from Infraserv Höchst in the Höchst Industrial Park. dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport: "We have to significantly reduce emissions in traffic in order to achieve our climate goals. That means: We need new, efficient, emission-free mobility and an overall energy system that does not emit CO2. Hydrogen is part of the solution, especially for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, ships and even in rail operations, because thanks to H2 technology, we can also be climate-neutral and quiet on those parts of the network in the future where electrification would be too costly, a real game changer . " Jens Deutschendorf, State Secretary in the Hessian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Energy, Transport and Housing: "Emission-free mobility is a central element of the energy transition. The world's largest hydrogen train fleet, which will be successively on the road in the Taunus network here in Hesse from December, is a milestone in sustainable mobility. Because a climate-friendly alternative is being tested here for all those routes on which electrification via overhead lines is not reasonably possible. This means that local public transport will not only be more environmentally friendly than it already is, but also quieter. That is why we, the state of Hesse, have contributed more than 3 million euros to the hydrogen filling station. But I would like to thank you also to the federal government and all partners involved for financing and implementing this pioneering modern mobility project here in Hesse." "The use of hydrogen trains is an important step towards climate -neutral mobility," says Ulrich Krebs, district administrator of the Hochtaunus district and deputy RMV supervisory board chairman . "In the future, the routes in the Taunus network will not only be used with zero-emission hydrogen trains, the modern traction vehicles are also significantly quieter than the diesel vehicles. We are therefore particularly pleased to be part of this innovative project." "Frankfurt is a transport hub of paramount importance - the fact that the world's largest hydrogen train fleet is refueled and serviced here makes us proud and fits in with the hydrogen region of Rhine-Main. In Frankfurt we have been testing hydrogen buses in local transport since this summer with promising results. I am delighted me that the RMV is now bringing the technology onto the rails!!, says Wolfgang Siefert, Personal Mobility Advisor for the City of Frankfurt . "Not only are we putting the world's largest hydrogen train fleet on the rails, we are also replacing diesel-powered trains with hydrogen for the very first time in Hesse. After electrically powered trains, e-buses and hydrogen buses, we are offering our passengers another option for emission-free travel This is a giant step towards our clear goal: From 2030, we only require vehicles without diesel drives in tenders - for mobility without pollutants," says R MV Managing Director and spokesman for the management Prof. Knut Ringat . Evelyn Palla, Board Member for Regional Transport DB Group , says: "We are sending fossil fuels to the sidelines. In order to make regional transport emission-free, we are relying on hydrogen as a future technology. And the future in the Taunus is already around the corner: from December we will be driving the world's largest Hydrogen fleet. Our travelers will then travel in a climate-neutral manner." For more than 15 years, Infraserv Höchst has been involved in technology projects that promote the use of hydrogen for sustainable, low-emission mobility and energy supply solutions. "We are very proud that Industriepark Höchst, as the location of the new hydrogen infrastructure for supplying the trains, is an important part of this project," said Dr. Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director of Infraserv Höchst . "Zero-emission mobility is one of the most important goals for a sustainable future, and Alstom has a clear ambition to become the world leader in alternative rail propulsion. The world's first hydrogen train, the Coradia iLint, demonstrates a clear commitment to green mobility in Connection with state-of-the-art technology. We are very proud to bring this train into series operation together with our strong partners. The largest hydrogen train fleet in the world will be running in the Frankfurt region," says Müslüm Yakisan, President of Alstom's DACH region .

World's first passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel cells

The Coradia iLint from ALSTOM is the first passenger train in the world to be operated with a hydrogen fuel cell that generates electrical energy for the drive. The excess electricity generated temporarily and the energy recovered during braking are temporarily stored in the traction battery. The extensively and comfortably equipped traction vehicles are as quiet as electric traction vehicles and locally emission-free because they only emit water vapor and heat into the environment.

On four lines through the Taunus

From December, the first vehicles of the 27-strong fleet will start in the Taunus network and will initially be used on the RB15 line. The other vehicles will be delivered successively until spring and gradually put into operation. The Taunus network comprises four routes, some of which have not yet been electrified:

RB11 (Frankfurt-Höchst – Bad Soden)
RB12 (Frankfurt – Koenigstein)
RB15 (Frankfurt – Brandoberndorf)
RB16 (Bad Homburg – Friedberg)

The lines are operated by Regionalverkehre Start Deutschland GmbH (start). The 100 percent DB subsidiary, which already successfully operates two networks in northern Germany, prevailed in a Europe-wide tender and replaced the previous operator, Hessische Landesbahn GmbH, in December. In order to ensure full operation in the Taunus network until the hydrogen trains are fully delivered, HLB will temporarily continue to operate lines RB11 and RB16 until the end of April. This is an extraordinary commitment in terms of passengers. Alstom takes care of the maintenance of these vehicles and thus the responsibility for the availability and reliability over the entire service life. The work will be carried out by DB Regio in the DB workshop in Griesheim on behalf of Alstom. The vehicles were procured from the vehicle management region Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH (fahma), a 100 percent subsidiary of RMV. The project volume is around 500 million euros over 25 years for vehicle procurement, maintenance and operation. Infraserv Höchst, the operating company of the Höchst Industrial Park, has installed hydrogen storage and compressor systems in addition to the actual refueling facilities, and the track systems in the industrial park have also been expanded. An important part of the project is the construction of an electrolyser for hydrogen production. Hydrogen has long been produced at Industriepark Höchst as a by-product of production processes. The federal government finances 40 percent of the additional vehicle costs, limited to 14.7 million euros, which are incurred compared to the procurement of conventional diesel vehicles. In this way, the federal government is making an important contribution to RMV being able to rely on alternative drive systems when procuring vehicles. In addition, the federal government is directly promoting the construction of the hydrogen filling station in Industriepark Höchst. The federal government is supporting the project with a total of 24.3 million euros. The state of Hesse is funding the construction of the basic rail infrastructure for the hydrogen filling station with around 2.5 million euros, which is almost 60 percent of the costs. In addition, there were 800,000 euros for preparatory reports and a mobile train refueling facility.

First Hydrogen Train of the World's Largest Hydrogen Train Fleet Presented in Frankfurt