Hydrogen train project on the Heidekrautbahn: Is the end in sight?

Von NAG Redaktion

Die Heidekrautbahn kämpft mit Problemen beim Wasserstoffantrieb: Lieferschwierigkeiten führen zu Einschnitten im Zugverkehr.
The Heidwerkbahn fights with problems with hydrogen drive: delivery difficulties lead to cuts in train traffic. (Symbolbild/MB)

The planned changeover of the heather railway to environmentally friendly hydrogen trains faces enormous challenges. Despite promising announcements, such as the slogan "Green hydrogen drives us", reality shows very differently. As reported by bz-berlin.de , the new hydrogen features are currently closed due to delivery bottlenecks in the hydrogen supply of the company. As a result, the already tense timetables with replacement thoughts and a battery train have to be filled.

Although the heather railway has been put into operation with hydrogen trains since mid -December 2024, significant problems have now occurred. The resolved hydrogen filling station in Basdorf was insufficiently functional due to the lack of components, which meant that not enough hydrogen could be provided for the trains. The Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB) then announced that alternative hydrogen sources must be sought in order to maintain operation. However, the allegations are defended by the allegations and claims to have delivered sufficient hydrogen, which only complicates the situation.

Expansion of services with alternative drives

In parallel to the difficulties of hydrogen supply, however, improvements in regional transport are also planned. With the introduction of new battery trains and hydrogen vehicles, the Niederbarnimer Eisenbahn (NEB) brings a big step towards the diesel exit strategy of Berlin and Brandenburg Transport. vbb.de explains that a total of seven hydrogen and 31 battery vehicles are planned from the timetable change 2024, which will be used in traffic in the future. With this gradually concept, CO₂ emissions are to be significantly reduced and diesel consumption is reduced by several million liters.

The technical implementation is currently in the spotlight, since the train operation has only now started with inadequate capacity and many logistics problems. The challenge for providing the required hydrogen amount urgently must be solved in order not to fail the planned concept of environmentally friendly mobility in the region. The VBB and the NEB work intensively on solutions to successfully complete the planning steps for integrating alternative drives.

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