(CNN) — The way forward for environmentally pleasant journey may simply be right here — and it is Germany that is main the cost, with the primary ever rail line to be completely run on hydrogen-powered trains, ranging from Wednesday.

Fourteen hydrogen trains powered by gas cell propulsion will completely run on the route in Bremervörde, Decrease Saxony. The 93 million euro ($92.3 million) deal has been struck by state subsidiary Landesnahverkehrsgesellschaft Niedersachsen (LVNG), the homeowners of the railway, and Alstom, builders of the Coradia iLint trains. The Elbe-Weser Railways and Transport Firm (EVB), which is able to function the trains, and fuel and engineering firm Linde, are additionally a part of the challenge.

The trains, 5 of which which debut Wednesday, will regularly exchange the 15 diesel trains that at the moment run on the route, with all 14 working completely by the top of the yr. Simply 1 kilo of hydrogen gas can do the identical as round 4.5 kilos of diesel.

The trains are emissions-free and low-noise, with solely steam and condensed water issuing from the exhaust. They’ve a spread of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles), which means they’ll run for a whole day on the community on a single tank of hydrogen. A hydrogen filling station has already been established on the route. The trains can go at a most of 140 kph, or 87mph, although common speeds on the road are a lot much less, between 80-120 kph.

The train's exhaust emits only steam and condensed water.

The practice’s exhaust emits solely steam and condensed water.

Alstom

“Emission free mobility is without doubt one of the most essential targets for guaranteeing a sustainable future,” mentioned Henri Poupart-Lafarge, Alstom’s CEO, in a press release.

The deal has been a decade within the making. LVNG had been searching for diesel options since 2012, based on a press launch, and in 2018, Alstom ran a two-year trial of the trains. Germany at the moment has round 4,000 diesel trains on its non-electrified tracks. The Coradia iLint has additionally been examined in Austria, Poland, Sweden and the Netherlands.

The fueling station, run by Linde, has 64 excessive strain storage tanks, six hydrogen compressors and two gas pumps.

President of Decrease Saxony, Stephan Weil, referred to as the information a “mannequin for the remainder of the world” and “a milestone on the highway to local weather neutrality within the transport sector.”

The trains’ subsequent vacation spot might be Frankfurt, the place 27 of them have been ordered for the metropolitan space. They can even be making a cease in Italy, the place six trains have been commissioned to be used within the northern Lombardy area, and in France, the place 12 trains might be shared throughout 4 areas.



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