5th Dec 19

At the Morphic Ethical Equities Fund AGM in Sydney last month, several investors asked questions about the revolutionary hydrogen powered trains produced by French rail manufacturer Alstom.

Alstom, which has been one of the Morphic Funds’ largest investments for nearly five years, has pioneered the commercialisation of the hydrail concept, which first emerged around the turn of the century, as a replacement for diesel on low use regional routes that would be uneconomic to electrify.

The world’s first two hydrogen passenger trains went into service late in 2018 in the German state of Lower Saxony. Another 14 are on order. The trains can run for about 1,000kms on a single tank, at a top speed of 140lms/h, carrying 300 passengers – essentially the same as the diesel trains they will replace. At least three other German states are likely to buy similar trains, and Alstom says it has had interest in deploying its Coradia iLint hydrogen trains in Britain, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Italy and Canada.

Are hydrogen trains actually any better for the environment? In terms of emissions from the train itself, there is no contest. The only emission is water vapour. An added benefit is that the trains are virtually silent. But as one of our shareholders asked, where does the hydrogen come from, and what energy does it use to make it?

Read on >