Share

A report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the UK says that investment in hydrogen trains is vital to improving air quality, but it should be not considered an alternative to electrification schemes. The report, however, supports the introduction of hydrogen trains on non-electrified routes to improve air quality. Additionally, the report highlights that hydrogen requires a large amount of storage space, making it unsuitable for freight and high-speed trains.

Source: Railway-technology.com

Minister of State at the Department for Transport Jo Johnson called for diesel-only trains to be phased out as part of new vision to decarbonise the railway. "It’s vital we stimulate the knowledge economy by improving transport throughout the country,” he said in a speech on 12 February.

Source: Department for Transport

On 31 January 2019, the Rail Industry Decarbonisation Task Force and RSSB published an initial report outlining a credible set of technical options to address the challenge set by Jo Johnson the year before. The taskforce has concluded that it should be possible to remove all diesel-only passenger trains from the network by 2040. The case for freight is much less clear-cut. Only diesel has the energy density and go anywhere capability necessary for freight operation on the network in accordance with current operating requirements. RSSB is commissioning further work to look at the specific challenges for the freight sector.

Source: RSSB