I rode North America's FIRST HYDROGEN TRAIN

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Edited by: Martino Gasparrini
Thumbnail by: Fouad Ghafoud

[bubbledoubletrouble]

One of the main problems with hydrogen fuel is leaks, and I don’t mean the potential for explosions. Hydrogen molecules are significantly smaller than other fuels, so if there’s the slightest gap or crack it will escape. And hydrogen causes metals to be more brittle over time, which increases the likelihood of small cracks. While hydrogen isn’t a greenhouse gas itself, it _can_ interact with greenhouse gases and prolong their lifetimes. So leak management will be very important for switching to hydrogen to be successful.

[MrLOLCraftLP]

I'm driving the Diesel version here in Germany, and i must say they're nice little trains. Old and ready for scraping but very easy and good to drive. We just started with a pilot project here in North Germany with the first Battery powered train, which runs from Kiel to Lüneburg.

It's the new Stadler FLIRT³ BEMU and is awesome, you have to try that one too.

[John_Fugazzi]

I love the graphics you used to explain the hydrogen/water process. It's also good to see a non carbon burning process actually work on something as big as a train.

[phillyguy]

Don't forget, most diesel engines are electric too. The diesel generator powers the electric traction motors driving the engine. Short of stringing overhead wires to power electric motors, hydrogen seems to be a much better alternative than diesel.

[brandonpeniuk]

Mike! I haven't seen you post a video in a while. It's good to know you are still alive and well. I hope everything is going well with your dad and mom.

[suefrompa]

So great to see you back doing train videos, Mike!

[LQC]

Stadler Rail has also developed a hydrogen multiple unit train, which is planned to begin service on the Arrow (in San Bernardino, California) next year. Honestly, I'm surprised that Alstom seems to have beaten them to it even though I haven't heard anything about this train until now.

[inthehouse]

Thanks for this great content, Mike. I use the echo strips for laundry and dish soap as part of my "plastic-free" household and learned about this from you. It's so easy to reduce plastic use now. But still a challenge to go totally plastic-free. Keep up the good work.

[kencase]

Mike, thanks for sharing this adventure and the great explanation. I don’t know where you’re going next but I’m looking forward to going along.

[joyfuflower]

If you look in the cab, everything is in German. Why would a French train be entirely in German? Glad you asked! LVNG, which is a german state owned operator bought 14 of these trainsets in 2018 in an effort to decarbonise their fleet. They started operating them in 2022 but never got to full fleet and gave up on them after a year, switching to battery electric because they're cheaper, simpler, and more reliable to run. This was supposed to be one of those trains but it was never delivered because the project was such a disaster. That's how a French train ended up in Quebec, Canada with a fully German cockpit.

95% of hydrogen comes from fossil fuels and green hydrogen like this costs 3 times more than regular hydrogen because the process is incredibly inneficient. Just look at how many fans are on the fuel cell part, it's because it generates so much heat. We're talking like 30% total efficiency on a good day compared to 75-85% efficiency with battery electric, plus the trains get the same range and don't need expensive fuel cell infrastructure.

It needs one entire truck a day to carry enough hydrogen for the train compared to a diesel tanker truck that could deliver enough fuel for 2 weeks. It also takes an hour to refuel. Hydrogen is energy dense in terms of weight but by volume, a diesel truck can carry the equivalent energy of 14 hydrogen tankers.



Add to that the issues with refueling in the winter that LVNG faced and the fact that fuel cells really struggle to get going when they're cold and it explains why the trial ended before things got cold in the fall.

It's a neat train and I appreciate that people are excited about clean energy but hydrogen is being pushed almost exclusively by the fossil fuel industry because at the end of the day, that's mostly what it is, while costing twice as much as diesel.

[iO-Sci]

That is kind of serene and unique wow ! I never saw these hydrogen train in Canada
캐나다에서는 본 적이 없는 고요하고 독특한 모습이에요

[PokhrajRoy.]

Hydrogen Train should’ve been a thing in the 20th Century instead of Hydrogen Bomb.

[ShadowAvatar]

Anywhere plain electric trains can be used they should be used, avoiding the extra steps and energy wasted in conversion processes. Some places might have good applications if they are far from power generation or setting up electrified rail would be too hard or too expensive.

[odizcvw]

Great initiative. Quebec and Manitoba are the perfect places to test this as they are almost fully hydro electric base load power.
I hope the train proves to be practical. Seems like a great place to employ hydrogen electric power. So much better than diesel electric.
The Tru Earth is also a great idea. Sadly 2x the cost of the Tide that Amazon delivers to my door free of charge. For some reason they can move all that heavy water around cheaper, so that needs a little tune up.

[donstravelsandrants.]

A super cool train. My favourite colour of blue 🔵. Thanks Mike for bringing us along.👍😊🇮🇪🇨🇦

[nicolaslemay]

Hydrogen is a solution that looks good on paper, but the nifthy details change everything. We consume a lot of hydrogen already, and 96% of it is produced from gas reforming, which use fossil fuels. Maybe the train was powered by hydrogen produced using (hopefully clean) electricity, but then you could ask why not using that hydrogen to replace some of that 96% non clean hydrogen?

It’s also very inefficient compared to battery powered, using 3 to 4 times more electricity.

It might have a place, probably more for boats. For train, maybe as a range extender.

[heathertruskinger]

Hi Mike.
That hydrogen-powered train, looks a bit more like a tram that Alstom also makes...😂
But a lovely looking train, and a great scenic route.

The science behind how the hydrogen is used is pretty cool!.
The " old time" cartoon graphics explaining the science behind how it works were fun to watch, and made the process easily to understand. Thanks.
It's great to have a DownieLive video to watch on a Sunday again, too ❤

[syrax]

I would love to try that train… the scenery in this video is beautiful!

[pizzasharkguy]

Ya know, something great about Downie is that he only does sponsorships with companies he knows are environmentally-friendly.

[fatrat]

You should have no problems with relationships...females or males
Your just so pleasant to listen to, great personality