Unlike passenger railways, trains cannot be shunted due to overhead lines. Batteries are inadequate for shunting such powerful trains. Research will focus on the prerequisites for converting to hydrogen drives, the conditions for refuelling and clarifying safety and legal issues. If the research is successful, the trains could be fuelled with green hydrogen in future and become climate-neutral way through the conversion to electricity and without any overhead lines.
Emphasis on conversion to hydrogen
The so-called "SH2unter@ports" project to convert the shunting operation of trains to hydrogen is now underway in the ports of Bremen and Hamburg through May 2024 to achieve CO2-neutral operations by 2035, according to the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA). The German Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport has put over EUR 1.2 million towards the project as part of the National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Programme.
Overhead lines
Transferring findings to other ports
The findings will be included in a plan and could then be transferred to other ports and shunting operations. The conversion to climate-friendly trains could open up perspectives for infrastructural changes in port operations. HPA is carrying out the project with the Eisenbahnen und Verkehrsbetriebe Elbe-Weser GmbH, the Smart Mobility Institute at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, the Institute for Energy and Circular Economy at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Alstom and Bremenports.
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