First Italian hydrogen trainset unveiled
Delivery of FNM’s first Coradia Stream fuel cell multiple-unit marks a significant step for the H2iseO ‘Hydrogen Valley’ decarbonisation project, as Toma Bačić explains.
ITALY: Gruppo FNM formally unveiled its first hydrogen trainset at Rovato near Brescia on February 13, along with a new depot and a mobile refuelling station.
Delivered on January 23 following testing at Alstom’s Salzgitter plant, the five-car Coradia Stream fuel cell multiple-unit is the first of 14 being purchased with funding from Lombardia region and the national recovery and resilience facility, PNRR. It is the first hydrogen train to arrive for use in Italy, where various initiatives are under way.
The hydrogen trains and refuelling facility form part of the H2iseO project to decarbonise operations on the Brescia – Edolo line. Built by FerrovieNord, the cutting-edge Rovato depot west of Brescia is the first in Italy to have been specifically designed and built for the maintenance of hydrogen trains. It also has the first hydrogen refuelling installation to be completed; this was delivered by renewable hydrogen supplier Sapio.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by the government’s Under Secretary of State Alessandro Morelli, President of Reggione Lombardia Attilio Fontana, and the region’s councillors for Transport & Sustainable Mobility Franco Lucente, and for Infrastructure & Public Works Claudia Maria Terzi. FNM President Andrea Gibelli and Managing Director Fulvio Caradonna were joined by the President of FerrovieNord Pier Antonio Rossetti, and Trenord CEO Andrea Severini, as well as the CEO of Alstom Italia Michele Viale and Sapio President Alberto Dossi.
‘This is a very important day, which confirms Lombardia’s vocation to be a land of records and excellence’, Fontana emphasised. ‘Both in terms of the H2iseO project and the commissioning of the first train powered entirely by hydrogen. The modernisation process in transport and
