The first hydrogen train arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday 26 February. The train that will be used for testing was driven by ProRail to its provisional parking facility in Leeuwarden.

Saturday, March 7, public day

In the coming weeks, a number of test runs will be made by this train between Groningen and Leeuwarden. The hydrogen train can be viewed by the public on Saturday 7 March. The train is on that day between 12.00 and 16.00 on track 1a of Groningen station.

To Leeuwarden

The train drove onto the Dutch track on Wednesday, pulled by locomotives. This new train will only be allowed to run independently on the test route and will be in Leeuwarden for the time being.

Night-time test drives from Groningen to Leeuwarden

With test drives, ProRail will gain practical experience with driving on green hydrogen. This is the first time that a train runs on green hydrogen in the Netherlands. Among other things, ProRail will look at how the train can run the timetable, fuel consumption, and refueling. The test drives are planned at night between 27 February and 14 March. During the test drives, there is only a test crew on board. The tests with this train are coordinated by DEKRA.

Towards a CO2 neutral track

The use and application possibilities of hydrogen are increasing. As a co-initiator, ProRail is investigating whether the hydrogen train is a viable alternative on its way to a CO2-neutral track from 2050.

Joint ambition for hydrogen

Arriva also supports this ambition and wants to investigate in practice whether hydrogen can also be used in train transport. In the province of Groningen, buses run on hydrogen and the municipality of Groningen has a number of garbage trucks and sweepers that run on hydrogen. A hydrogen-powered train is therefore a logical next step for the province of Groningen.

Train type

The hydrogen train is from the Alstom company. This passenger train is of the Alstom Coradia Ilint type. This type is already running in a train service in Germany, past Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervörde and Buxtehude. The Netherlands is the second country where the train runs on the track.

Smart and green

The province of Groningen, ProRail and Arriva have the goal of running trains in the Northern Netherlands with zero emissions (without emissions). The hydrogen train is a possibility to do this. Moreover, these zero emission trains are quieter than the current diesel trains. So smart and green!

Involved parties