Alstom’s Coradia iLint, the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell powered regional train, has won the GreenTec Award 2018 in the category Mobility by Schaeffler. Alstom was officially presented with the award at its largest production site, located in Salzgitter, Germany, during an advance award ceremony ahead of the GreenTec Awards gala to be held in Munich on May 13th.
“We are extremely pleased about winning this award. With the Coradia iLint, Alstom is the first railway manufacturer in the world to have produced completely emission-free technology ready for series production,” said Jörg Nikutta, managing director of Alstom in Germany and Austria. “Indeed, we have achieved more than this: an innovative mobility concept that is sustainable and competitive, and which includes not only the trains and service, but also the infrastructure necessary for fueling them.”
The Coradia iLint is a completely emission-free regional train that offers an alternative to diesel trains for operation on non-electrified railway lines, which currently make up more than 40 percent of the railway network in Germany. Powered by a fuel cell in which hydrogen is converted into electrical energy, the Coradia iLint only emits steam and water condensate. The train will enter regular service on the Cuxhaven-Bremervörde route during 2018.
In the presence of GreenTec Awards initiator Sven Krüger, jury members Professor Tim Hosenfeldt, Head of the Centre for Innovation of Schaeffler, and Dr. Joachim Damasky, Managing Director of the German Association of the Automotive Industry, handed over the GreenTec Award certificate to Alstom. Also present at the award ceremony in Salzgitter were representatives of TÜV NORD and NOW (National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology) as partners of the GreenTec Awards.
“Hydrogen technology shows new ways to CO2-free mobility in a sustainable and de-fossilized energy chain, especially in areas such as railway engineering and heavy goods transport. Alstom impressively puts this into practice with the hydrogen train Coradia iLint," said Professor Hosenfeldt.
"Our sector is on the move towards sustainable mobility solutions. The example of Coradia iLint shows that our possibilities are manifold!” remarked Dr. Damasky.
"Fuel cells are a promising technology for further developing alternative drive systems in rail technology. Alstom's Coradia iLint project is a good fit for forward-looking, green mobility," added Silvio Konrad, managing director at TÜV NORD Systems.
