Germany: Bavaria Leases its First Hydrogen-Powered Train

Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB) has signed a leasing contract for a Siemens Mobility two-car hydrogen-powered trainset, which will be unveiled this spring.

This took place on 15 March, following on from an MoU that was signed last July.

L-R: Christian Bernreiter, Transport Minister Bavaria, Albrecht Neumann, CEO Rolling Stock, Siemens Mobility, Arnulf Schuchmann, Managing Director of Bayerische Regiobahn and Hubert Aiwanger, Bavaria’s Economic Affairs Minister

The hydrogen-powered train is based on Siemens Mobility’s Mireo Plus platform.

The first of its kind in Bavaria, BRB’s Mireo Plus H will be tested on a number of routes including Augsburg-Füssen from the middle of next year.

Passenger services will begin in January 2024 as part of pilot operations, which are scheduled to last 30 months.

Christian Bernreiter, Bavaria’s Transport Minister, said:
I'm really pleased that we’ll soon be able to introduce this innovative technology in Bavaria and test it in regular operation.

We’re working closely with our partners to get this lighthouse project under way because we’re convinced hydrogen propulsion can also contribute to attractive and even climate-neutral passenger rail transport. Our goal is to achieve this by 2040 at the latest.

Bavaria’s support of the pilot project with funding of several million euros is more than well-invested.