Project HyTraGen: hydrogen-powered urban tram

The first hydrogen-powered tram in Germany will soon appear in the city of Görlitz, this is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The consortium involved, including Heiterblick, a tramcar manufacturer, Flexiva Automation & Robotik, and the Technical University of Chemnitz, has begun implementing the HyTraGen project.

Privatization of the freight operator Operail

The main goal is to develop a tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The new tram is scheduled to be tested in 2026.

One of the key tasks of the project is to integrate the fuel cell system into the tram’s design and develop hydrogen refueling technology. The German Ministry of Transport and Digitalization has allocated €8 million for the project, of which €1.2 million has been received by the Technical University of Chemnitz.

The results of the work are planned to be used to launch the production of hydrogen tramcars in Saxony.

One of the main tasks of the project is to develop a lightweight design that will maintain the mass of a traditional overhead line-powered tram despite the addition of fuel cell modules and hydrogen storage tanks.

Previously, in 2019, Hörmann Vehicle Engineering, a subsidiary of Heiterblick, developed a tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which is already in use in Asian countries.

Computer graphics source: Technical University of Chemnitz

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