The Coradia iLint hydrogen-powered train, from French company Alstom, has been in service in Germany since last July. However, just a few days ago the train made its debut journey around the north of the country.
Created thanks to a Franco-German partnership, the Coradia iLint, whose defining feature is its rooftop hydrogen storage tank, received permission to run in Germany from the authorities back in July. Two train prototypes will soon replace the diesel fleet currently in use on the nearly 100-kilometer-long route between the northern German towns of Cuxhaven and Buxtehude.
Designed by traction specialists in Tarbes, Occitanie, and Salzgitter, in Lower Saxony, the Coradia iLint will be monitored during a transition period, with Alstom set to deliver 14 other hydrogen trains to the northern German region by 2021.
This is yet another example of how French expertise when it comes to railway innovation has been successfully exported.