On its way to climate neutrality in 2040, Deutsche Bahn undertook a first official test drive with a new hydrogen train on the Lower Rhine on Friday. The train developed by Siemens and called “Mireo plus H” does not produce any exhaust gases and has a range of up to 800 kilometers in the tested version. It is fueled with hydrogen produced in a climate-neutral manner and only emits water vapor, as announced by Deutsche Bahn and Siemens in Wegberg, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Further test runs of the train are planned in the northern Black Forest from autumn 2023 – still without passengers. The train will then be on the road with passengers for a year from 2024 as a regional train between Tübingen, Horb and Pforzheim, replacing a diesel multiple unit there.
3000 diesel vehicles will be converted to biofuel
According to its own statements, Deutsche Bahn still operates around 3,000 diesel rail vehicles. In order to get them climate-neutral, they should be converted to bio-fuels. For new vehicles, Deutsche Bahn wants to use new forms of propulsion such as hydrogen or battery technology.
The train was refueled on Friday after the test drive at a mobile hydrogen filling station of Deutsche Bahn in the Siemens test center in Wegberg. “For the first time, this takes no longer than refueling a diesel multiple unit,” emphasized the railway. This is an important aspect in view of the tightly scheduled train schedules in regional traffic. “This makes hydrogen technology competitive with the diesel fuel used to date in everyday operation,” it said.
From autumn 2023, the hydrogen is to be produced at the DB plant in Tübingen by electrolysis using green electricity. The hydrogen trains are to be serviced by DB Regio in Ulm.
