While the company announced Monday the acquisition of Bombardier Transportation, Alstom is also preparing in a few years for the arrival of the hydrogen train in France. Henri Poupart-Lafarge, its CEO, hopes that this will be done "as soon as possible".

"It's coming very soon," says Henri Poupart-Lafarge, the director of Alstom. The hydrogen train, already tested and installed in Germany, should arrive in France in a few years. "The train is by far the cleanest form of transport in terms of CO2 emissions," he recalls. But in France, there are still a few wagons, a fleet of regional trains, which run on diesel. With the announcement of the acquisition of Canadian Bombardier Transportation, the group hopes to invest to innovate.

"We brought to Germany, and soon to France, a hydrogen train, which makes it possible to make even small clean lines", specifies the CEO. In France, however, no precise date for the arrival of these "green" trains. "As soon as possible I hope. We are working with the SNCF and the public authorities. Within 3 - 4 years at most", advance Henri Poupart-Lafarge.

Alstom already supplies several regions of Germany

In Germany, the first worldwide entry into service of a hydrogen train took place in September 2018 in Lower Saxony. They work thanks to a fuel cell which produces electricity by oxidation of dihydrogen by dioxygen. In May 2019, Alstom won a tender to supply 27 hydrogen trains, the Alstom LHB Coradia LINT, which will serve the Frankfurt region.

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In France, SNCF through the voice of Guillaume Pépy hoped at the end of August 2019 on BFMtv to be able to sign with Alstom a contract for fifteen hydrogen trains.