Japan – first hydrogen hybrid train gears up for trial runs.
JR East showed off Japan’s first hydrogen-powered hybrid train touting a zero-emissions system developed with Hitachi and Toyota Motor.
The company, formally East Japan Railway, will begin safety testing on the two-car Hybari train in late March. Plans are to start commercial service in 2030.
Hybari runs off hydrogen fuel cells and batteries. Hydrogen is supplied from tanks to a fuel cell system, and a chemical reaction with oxygen in the air generates electricity. The batteries store energy generated when the brakes are applied.
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Shoichi Oizumi of the JR East group’s Research and Development Center, said:
“Trains powered only by batteries have short ranges, so we looked at using hydrogen, which is already commercialized for automobiles.
Developed at a cost of roughly 4 billion yen ($34.8 million), Hybari boasts a top speed of 100 kph and can travel up to 140 km on a single filling of high-pressure hydrogen.
Compared with trucks and other modes of transportation, railways are not a big source of pollution, accounting for only around 4% of the transportation sector’s emissions in Japan. But JR East, with 440 or so diesel cars, believes that “replacing them is necessary,” in the words of Oizumi.
Hydrogen-fueled trains require no overhead lines or substations. After checking energy efficiency through testing, JR East plans to replace diesel trains, mainly in rural areas, while also possibly exporting to international markets.
Operating costs are a big hurdle to commercialization, even with the need for less equipment. Oizumi sees costs still exceeding those of conventional trains.
The JR East group is targeting net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by fiscal 2050. It will introduce an internal carbon-pricing system in fiscal 2022, calculating the effects of CO2 reductions when making investment decisions. Thanks for staying up to date with Hydrogen Central.
Germany is a pioneer, launching the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell train service in 2018. Siemens plans to develop and test a hydrogen-powered train in 2024 with Deutsche Bahn.
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Japan’s first hydrogen hybrid train gears up for trial runs, Tokyo, February 19, 2022
