The first ever hydrogen powered train will run on the UK mainline today (Sept 30) as part of a major project in partnership with the University of Birmingham – signalling a big step forward towards the UK’s net zero targets.
Today’s trials of the train, known as HydroFLEX, which have been supported with a £750,000 grant from the Department for Transport, follow almost two years’ development work and more than £1million of investment by both the University of Birmingham and Porterbrook.
Unlike diesel trains, hydrogen-powered trains do not emit harmful gases, instead using hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, water and heat. The ground-breaking technology behind the trains will also be available by 2023 to retrofit current in-service trains to hydrogen helping decarbonise the rail network and make rail journeys greener and more efficient.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who met yesterday (Sept 29) with leading rail experts from the University of Birmingham’s Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) onsite to see first-hand HydroFLEX on the mainline, has also today announced the ambition for Tees Valley to become a trailblazing Hydrogen Transport Hub.
Continue reading at University of Birmingham.
Image via University of Birmingham.