FCH2Rail project receives approval for testing

The FCH2Rail project has received a green signal to test its bi-mode demonstrator train with hydrogen fuel cells. The testing will be done on the Spanish national railway network.

The demonstrator train is the first hydrogen train to achieve this milestone. This is an outstanding highlight, because the Canfranc line is a particularly demanding line due to its steep and high gradients, which involve a great challenge for the new power generation systems. To this end, the demonstrator train, a Renfe’s Civia commuter unit, has run on the Zaragoza-Canfranc line both in electric mode, in the electrified area, and in hybrid mode, combining energy from hydrogen fuel cells and batteries in the non-electrified sections.

A new stage of on-track testing is now underway with the aim of testing the new technology in a wide range of power and energy demand conditions, simulating different commercial services. To this end, the train is scheduled to run on different lines of the Spanish Railway Network, mainly on lines in Aragon, Madrid and Galicia.

The test scenarios include running under different climatic and operating conditions. This will allow a more complete characterisation of the new on-board technology, for the subsequent evaluation of the competitiveness of the new bi-mode hybrid propulsion solution with hydrogen fuel cells as a sustainable alternative to the diesel traction currently used on many lines.