The demonstrator train of the CAF-led FCH2RAIL project, the first hydrogen train to be test-run on the Spanish State railway network.
The project partners behind the FCH2Rail project, part of the Basque Hydrogen Corridor, form a consortium comprising CAF, DLR, Toyota, Renfe, Adif, CNH2, IP and Stemmann-Technik. The project, which began in early 2021 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2024, has a budget of 14 million euros, 10 million of which is from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership, the agency of the European Commission for the development and improvement of advanced clean hydrogen applications and fuel cells.
The FCH2Rail project, which is developing a hydrogen-powered bi-mode demonstrator train, has reached an important milestone in its track testing phase by obtaining authorisation to be test-run on the Spanish State Railway Network (RFIG, in its initials in Spanish), and by completing the first of the planned routes with the arrival of the train at Canfranc station, in the Aragon Pyrenees. The demonstrator train was the first hydrogen-powered train to achieve this milestone, which is of considerable importance as the Canfranc line is particularly demanding due to its steep and high gradients, which pose a great challenge for the new on-board power generation systems. To this end, the demonstrator unit, a Renfe commuter train, has run on the Zaragoza-Canfranc line both in electric mode, in the electrified area, and in hybrid mode, combining energy from hydrogen cells and batteries in the non-electrified sections.
A new phase of on-track testing is now underway to test 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 RFIG lines, mainly in Aragón, Madrid and Galicia. The test scenarios include running under different weather and operating conditions, thereby enabling a more complete characterisation of the new on-board technology and 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.
After the static testing phase at the CAF Zaragoza plant and the first hydrogen refuelling tests, the dynamic tests on a closed track began in mid-2022. As a result, the new system has been optimised prior to the current testing phase on representative lines of the RFIG. The start of this new testing phase has meant the first authorisation by Adif for the trial of a hydrogen train on the RFIG, having passed all relevant risk assessment analyses and safety validation processes inherent to the testing of new technologies. At the same time, Renfe train drivers and train managers have received the necessary training to drive the CIVIA train converted to a bi-mode hydrogen train.
