The German government has reportedly wasted EUR 500 million on a fleet of hydrogen trains that do not work.
Said to be the largest hydrogen fleet of trains in the world, the Rhein-Main Transport Association (RMV) had ordered them to operate between the Taunus mountain range and Frankfurt from December 2022.
But trains kept having to be cancelled due to a number of breakdowns, according to local media, and now old diesel trains are being used again.
They have reportedly been rented at great expense to replace the hydrogen trains.
French manufacturer Alstom, which made the fuel cells powering the trains, has already admitted “the limited functionality of individual fuel cells as well as material bottlenecks for spare parts.”
German media said that the eco-trains were tested mainly in flat areas and not on routes with hills which is most likely why they failed in the low mountain range.
Newspaper delivery person Ursula Doepp, 69, told German media that she had to wait more than an hour for a replacement bus and said: “It’s the biggest rubbish there is. The old diesel trains always ran.
“Now tens of millions are being spent on hydrogen trains and nothing works anymore.”
Most of the hydrogen trains are said to be out of order.
The RMV said that it would take some time to “undertake a general overhaul of the error-prone technical components of the hydrogen trains.”
It added: “Alstom bears the additional costs caused by the rental of the diesel vehicles.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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