The train of the future is near. This Monday, an event was taking place far from the public eye, at the Alstom Railway Test Center (CEF), in Petite-Forêt, near Valenciennes, in the North. For the first time, a hydrogen train was circulating on French soil under the eyes of the Minister of Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebarri, and local elected officials. A clean and silent train that we are unlikely to see anytime soon in Hauts-de-France stations.
Even though rail is far from being the most polluting means of transport, manufacturers are working on even cleaner solutions. And using hydrogen as a fuel is one of the directions in which research is moving, particularly at Alstom with its Coradia iLint, in service in Germany since 2018. “The fuel cell is supplied with hydrogen and generates energy. electricity which in turn powers the traction motors. This produces neither smoke nor particles, but only water vapor ”, assures Yannick Legay, technical director of Alstom France. A green train which, in addition, is advertised as silent and cheaper to use than trains running on diesel.
Priority to electricity in Hauts-de-France
Because that is what it is all about: replacing diesel trainsets, the only ones able to run on non-electrified lines, ie more than 40% of the national rail network. A major ecological issue which makes the development of hydrogen “a priority in the field of heavy mobility”, according to the Minister of Transport. However, the regional executive of Hauts-de-France is more reserved.
Franck Dhersin, vice president of transport for the region, has no doubts that hydrogen is a solution for the future, “in the medium to long term”, he insists. “During construction, the additional cost is still 30 to 40%”, estimates Yannick Legay. “The price of clean hydrogen is high and will only drop by increasing production”, adds Jean-Baptiste Eyméoud, director of Alstom France. Hauts-de-France side, the financial argument is not negligible: “The entry ticket is 35 to 40 million euros for something that is not ready. I have 150 TER trains to renovate for a billion now, ”insists Franck Dhersin.
Especially since the boss of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand, has never hidden his preference for electricity, especially for running trains. In the campaign for the presidential election, he also pleads for the construction of nuclear power plants, including an EPR reactor in his region. “Yes, we are for nuclear, which is part of the energy mix such as wind, solar, CNG,” tempers the VP Transport. The latter adds that the regional rail network is one of the best electrified in France, “around 80%”. Suddenly, to travel by hydrogen train, you will have to go to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand-Est or Occitanie by 2025.