UK begins trial for first ever hydrogen-powered train to make rail travel greener

The United Kingdom on September 30 began trial of the country’s first hydrogen fuelled train known as the HydroFLEX. The hydrogen train will be using hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity. According to the reports by the Air Quality News, the Department for Transport has provided an amount of  £750,000 grant to support the plan.

Hydrogen-powered train in UK

The University of Birmingham and Porterbrook has further contributed £1m for the project. The UK Government has committed to reduce its carbon emissions by at least 80 per cent by the year 2050. The new technology is expected to be available from the year 2023. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps also made another announcement regarding the objective of converting Tees Valley into a Hydrogen Transport Hub.

According to the reports by gov.uk, Shapps said that all the people must embed change on their road to recovery. He added that he is delighted that the UK is embracing the power of hydrogen. Shapps also took to Twitter where he shared a video of the train.

According to the caption of the video, the new hydrogen-fuelled train is more greener, sustainable and efficient. The caption read, “In a UK first, this hydrogen-powered #HydroFLEX train took to the railways today, helping to #decarbonise journeys and make rail travel…”.

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CEO of Porterbrook, Mary Grant said that Porterbrook is committed in delivering a carbon-neutral and sustainable railway. He added that HydroFLEX has achieved another important milestone today. He said that UK will start producing HydroFLEX trains and create the world’s first electric and hydrogen-powered bi-mode. Porterbook is working on developing more ways to curb emissions across transport. Under the plan to decarbonise transport, a first-of-a-kind approach to decarbonise every mode of transport will be initiated. 

According to the reports by uk.gov, TechUK’s CEO, Julian David said that the announcement made is an exaple of the government's commitment to developing a hydrogen infrastructure. He added that the government is making efforts to 'decarbonise transport and encourage the shift to zero-emission vehicles'. Head of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Birmingham, Professor Stephen Jarvis said that the University of Birmingham is preparing for rail innovation in UK as well as globally. He termed HydroFLEX as a perfect example of industry partnerships with R&D. 

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In a separate development, few days back, an aircraft entirely powered by hydrogen fuel cells operated for a short flight from Britain. According to the reports by AP, the aircraft took off from Cranfield Airport in North London as it completed a 20 minute flight through zero-emission hydrogen. The plane which is a six seater has been created by the developer ZeroAvia. 

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(Image Credits: Unsplash)