Alstom has completed the first-ever conversion of a diesel shunting locomotive to hydrogen propulsion. The company presented the retrofitted locomotive at its Salzgitter site, where it also carried out the first test run.
The locomotive’s diesel engine has been replaced with a system that burns hydrogen directly, without releasing CO2. Industrial test operations are scheduled to continue until October 2025 at Salzgitter Group’s steel plants. After the trial, the vehicle will be restored to its original configuration.
The aim of the test is to assess the technology’s performance under everyday conditions and to evaluate whether it could be rolled out as a modernisation option for other shunting locomotives.
This project is being undertaken in partnership with VPS Verkehrsbetriebe Peine-Salzgitter GmbH (a subsidiary of Salzgitter AG), WTZ Roßlau gGmbH, the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films. The city of Salzgitter is supporting the work with 1.5 million EUR in funding from Lower Saxony’s 50 million EUR structural aid package.
François Muller, Vice President Services for Central and Northern Europe at Alstom said:With this research project, we are once again pioneering the use of hydrogen in rail transport. We are expanding the spectrum of vehicle modernisation with a doubly sustainable approach - thanks to this solution, our customers can switch to emission-free operation without having to replace their existing fleet. This is a particularly worthwhile option in shunting traffic due to the long service life of the vehicles.
There are around 1,000 diesel shunting locomotives in service in Germany and approximately 4,000 across Europe. Each emits an average of 150 tonnes of CO2 per year. According to project estimates, converting a locomotive to hydrogen propulsion could avoid up to 3,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions over a remaining service life of 15–20 years.
VPS alone operates 42 locomotives for the transport of raw materials and steel products within its production network.
The test operation will run until autumn 2025. Data collected will be analysed to assess technical viability and inform future deployment options. The results are expected to guide decisions on whether hydrogen retrofitting could become a standard solution for shunting locomotives across Europe.
