SOUTH East Railway (FSE), in the Italian region of
Puglia, has ordered two Coradia Stream H hydrogen trains to replace DMUs. These
will be the first hydrogen trains to operate in Puglia.
In addition, North Milan Railway (FNM) in Lombardy
has expanded its order for six hydrogen trains by ordering another two trains
under the framework contract it has with Alstom to supply up to 14 hydrogen
trains. The first train was presented to FNM and its owner Trenord in October
and will enter service in 2024.
The trains have a central power car containing
hydrogen fuel cells and storage tanks as well as lithium-ion batteries to store
the energy which is used during acceleration to complement the hydrogen fuel
cells, thereby optimising fuel usage.
The Coradia Stream H trains are based on Alstom’s
single-deck Coradia Stream regional train platform.
The project is being funded by the European Union’s
NextGenerationEU scheme as part of the IPCEI Hy2Tech programme.