Hydrogen Trains: Is Spain on track to removing rail emissions?

British people are the most likely in the world to choose train travel for their long distance journeys, according to a global survey commissioned by Hitachi Rail. The results revealed that nearly half of those asked would prefer to take a train for long distance travel, with the alternatives being cars and short haul flights.

This popularity leaves us with a slight dilemma, as, although 70% of the UK’s rail stock is now electric, only 38% our rail infrastructure supports electrified trains. Meaning that the bulk of long-distance journeys are completed by bi-mode and diesel trains, both of which create noise and air pollution.

But is it worth electrifying the rest of the tracks? Spanish train building giant Talgo S.L. (Talgo), believes they’ve come up with a cheaper and more versatile solution for long distance rail journeys.

The company is set to build the world’s first high speed hydrail (hydrogen power railway) trains, which utilise small batteries for initial acceleration, and hydrogen fuel cells to power the remainder of the journey, with water vapour being the only byproduct.

This technology would remove the need for the current electrification technologies (overhead or third-rail connections), instead, utilising a trackside hydrogen filling station, which requires an initial $2m investment, and can fill the trains hydrogen tanks with enough fuel to power its entire journey.

Whilst this may seem expensive, overhead rail (which accounts for nearly two thirds of the UK’s currently electrified tracks), costs roughly $150,000 per mile per year to upkeep, according to Talgo. If we were to electrify the remaining 6,077 miles of railway in the UK, this would increase the cost of track maintenance by over $900m per year (nearly 4% of last year’s rail expenditure).

In a time where it seems as though our climate goals are slipping between our fingers, could this be an easy solution to decarbonise our rail stock, without the need for major infrastructure changes? Not only would this help alleviate the current competition for new grid connections (with the queue for new connections totalling 70% of current capacity), but it would help to diversify our energy system and allow for greater investment into new technologies.

Stan Thompson, who coined the term "hydrail" in 2003, likens the shift to hydrogen in rail travel to the historic replacement of steam engines by diesel in the early 20th century. The introduction of Talgo’s high-speed hydrail is a major step forward in this transition, offering the potential for cleaner, more efficient rail networks worldwide.

If successful, Talgo’s hydrail trains may not only transform Spain’s railways but could also trigger a broader shift to hydrogen power, offering a cleaner, more sustainable future for rail travel across the globe.

But where does this leave the UK? Whilst Talgo looks to make this technology available in the imminent future, we are still stuck in the testing phase, but that does not mean we are without hope.

Throughout 2023, Porterbrook, a British rolling stock company, extensively tested its new “HydroFLEX” train, which was able to reach speeds of 90mph, and successfully tackled the steepest mainline incline in the UK. Despite the technology being nascent, the train managed to achieve a range of 300 miles with a maximum fuel load of 277kg of hydrogen on board and has previously attracted the attention of the then Prince of Wales (now King).

Whilst it isn’t yet clear when we’ll see these trains on our tracks, the challenge set by the UK Government to remove diesel-only trains from our railways by 2040 still stands. These hydrogen trains present a compelling option for railway operators, thanks to the fact that they don’t require a full electrification of our railways. In a time when budgets are stretched and climate anxiety persists like an elephant in the room, hydrogen could give rail companies a cheaper route to a sustainable future.