Ground-Breaking for Hydrogen Filling Station for Passenger Trains

The ground-breaking ceremony for the hydrogen filling station for passenger trains took place in Germany on 26 October 2020.

This filling station is being built in the Industriepark Höchst in the federal state of Hesse. Starting in December 2022, it will provide the hydrogen for the world’s largest fuel cell passenger train fleet.

Ground-breaking for hydrogen refuelling station for passenger trains in Hesse, Germany

The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Jens Deutschendorf, State Secretary in Hesse’s Ministry of Economics, Energy, Transport and Housing. He gave the start signal for the project alongside Professor Knut Ringat, Managing Director of the Rhein-Main Verkehrsbund (RMV), Dr Jörg Nikutta, Managing Director of Alstom Germany and Austria, and Dr Joachim Kreysing, Managing Director of Infraserv Höchst, which manages the industrial park. Alstom will be supplying the hydrogen trains for RMV, while Infraserv Höchst has responsibility for building and operating the filling station.

State Secretary Jens Deutschendorf said:
Hesse is a pacemaker on the way to climate and environmentally friendly mobility, as the Taunusnetz project also demonstrates. In 2022 pollutant-free fuel cell trains will replace the old diesel vehicles there – an electric operation without overhead lines, which could also be an interesting alternative for other regions. I would like to thank RMV and Industriepark Höchst for their courage in realising this innovative project.

The transport association for the Rhine-Main region will have a fleet of 27 Alstom Coradia iLint hydrogen trains, each of which will have a range of 1,000km between refuelling. This means they can carry passengers for a full day without the need to refuel. These Coradia iLint trains will be operated by RMV’s subsidiary Fahma in the Frankfurt region.

The Industriepark Höchst is no stranger to hydrogen technology. The first hydrogen refuelling station for cars opened in 2006.