Scotland's new hydrogen-powered train on track to launch in 2021

Scotland is looking to go green. The county wants to improve its transportation system by introducing a train that runs on hydrogen power, and it could arrive sooner than you expect.

The Scottish government has teamed up with a group of engineering companies that specialize in researching and developing hydrogen fuel cells to create Scotland’s first hydrogen-powered train, and it could ready by as soon as November 2021.

According to Ben Todd, CEO of Arcola Energy, the company leading the program, ‘The hydrogen train project is an excellent opportunity for industry leaders in hydrogen, rail engineering and safety to collaborate with Scottish technology providers to develop a deployment-ready solution.’

As part of the Hydrogen train project, Arcola Energy will develop the technology platform for the train’s new powertrain. The train itself will be a converted Class 314 car passenger train, made available by ScotRail.

Project partner Arup will use the learnings from the project to develop a roadmap to roll out hydrogen trains to support the decarbonisation of Scotland’s network.

‘This project has the potential to be a game-changer for the future of Scotland’s rail rolling stock. Our Rail decarbonisation Action Plan sets out to make our passenger railways emissions-free by 2035,’ said Scotland’s Transport Secretary Michael Matheson.