According to the two firms, the agreement supports the fulfillment of goals set by the European Green Deal, in particular the ‘Fit for 55’ package.
“By signing this memorandum, we formally confirm our long-term cooperation with Air Products,” said Dan Kurucz, managing director of Alstom in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. “Both parties will do everything in their power to accelerate the introduction of hydrogen in rail in the Czech Republic.
“Alstom is a pioneer in hydrogen rail mobility solutions and has much to offer in this area, from expertise to the trains themselves. With Air Products, we can also supply the necessary fuelling stations and build the hydrogen infrastructure in the country. We are in contact with the regions in this matter and we are trying to take action to support the creation of the necessary legislation, which is still missing in the Czech Republic,” he added.
"We are honored to be working with Alstom to deliver on our commitment to decarbonize transport in the Czech Republic with low-carbon hydrogen,” said Vlastimil Pavlíček, business development director of new technologies, CE & CIS subregion, Air Products. “We will use our expertise as the world’s largest hydrogen producer and are ready to invest in building hydrogen infrastructure to kick-start the use of low-carbon hydrogen in practice.
“Together with Alstom, we believe we can build a working network of hydrogen trains that will demonstrate that hydrogen is the ideal propulsion for non-electrified lines. And that the operation of hydrogen trains is environmentally friendly and safe and, in the medium term, economically viable,” Pavlíček added.
Alstom was the first company in the world to put a hydrogen passenger train into service in 2018 in Germany. Since then, it has been tested in Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Poland, and purchased by France and Italy.
In August, Alstom announced that 14 Coradia iLint hydrogen regional trains are now in passenger service on the world’s first fully hydrogen-operated route in Bremervörde, Lower Saxony, Germany.