Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen powered train wins German Sustainability Award

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Alstom’s Coradia iLint, the world's first mass-produced passenger train powered by hydrogen fuel cells, has won the 2022 German Sustainability Design Award. The award recognizes technical and social solutions that are particularly effective in driving the transformation to sustainable products, production, consumption, or lifestyles.

To make its selection, the design category jury brought together experts from the fields of industrial design, sustainability, academia, business, and the arts to evaluate products, services, and systems in line with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda.

“Alstom has the clear goal of becoming an international leader in alternative rail propulsion technologies. Our Coradia iLint hydrogen train is proof that innovative, sustainable mobility is a reality. We are very pleased to receive the German Sustainability Design Award and are proud to be able to decisively advance the development of sustainable propulsion systems," commented Müslüm Yakisan, President of Alstom in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

With the Coradia iLint Alstom has developed an economical alternative to conventional carbon-heavy diesel trains and has paved the way for further sustainable mobility innovations. Alstom’s award-winning hydrogen train combines various innovative concepts such as clean energy conversion, flexible energy storage batteries, and smart management of motive power and available energy. Specifically developed for use on non-electrified lines, the Coradia iLint enables emission-free, sustainable train operation while maintaining high performance.

German railway operator Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen was the first Coradia iLint customer and received the European Railway Award in early 2021 for its consistent commitment to employing alternative drive systems. Based on the ground-breaking development, Alstom is also meeting demand for hydrogen applications on rail outside Germany, including in France and Italy where the first contracts have already been signed.

Alstom first presented the Coradia iLint to the public at InnoTrans Berlin in 2016 and in 2018 the Coradia iLint received approval for passenger operation in Germany. Since then, the first two pre-series trains have already covered more than 200,000km of regular passenger service. Starting in 2022, Alstom will begin delivering the first of a total of 41 Coradia iLint series trains ordered in Germany.

Learn more about the iLint below: