India Debuts Hydrogen Train, Signaling Shift to Clean Transport
(Bloomberg) -- India Friday launched commercial service of its first hydrogen-powered train, marking its entry into a small global club that has deployed next-generation clean-transport technologies.
The 10-coach train can carry roughly 2,600 passengers, making it — according to Indian Railways — the world’s longest hydrogen-fueled passenger rail service. It will run on an 89-kilometer (55-mile) stretch between the northern cities of Jind and Sonipat.
The initiative marks a major milestone in Indian Railways’ broader green-energy transition, a critical shift given that over half of the South Asian nation’s electricity is still generated from thermal sources.
Germany pioneered the first commercial hydrogen passenger fleet in 2018, paving the way for pilots in the US, China, and Japan. But high infrastructure costs, the engineering complexities of high-pressure hydrogen storage and operational safety concerns continue to constrain widespread rollout.
Despite these challenges, the technology remains highly relevant. Because the true climate benefit relies entirely on scaling green hydrogen production, these trains will serve as a vital, specialized tool alongside direct electrification in the global pursuit of net-zero mobility.
Indian Railways plans to use insights from this deployment to evaluate hydrogen traction across heritage and tourist rail corridors.
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