Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of railways, communications, and electronic and information technology, informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday that Indian Railways (IR) plans to operate 35 hydrogen trains as part of "Hydrogen for Heritage" at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crores per train and Rs 70 crores per route for ground infrastructure.


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In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the Minister said, "Indian Railways has also awarded a pilot project for retro fitment of Hydrogen Fuel cell on existing Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) rake along with ground infrastructure at the cost of Rs 111.83 crores which are planned to be run on Jind-Sonipat section of Northern Railway." 


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Vaishnaw further informed that field trials of the first prototype on the Jind-Sonipat section of Northern Railway are expected to commence in 2023-2024. The minister said that the running cost of Hydrogen fuel-based trains is not established in the Indian Railway scenario. 


It is estimated that the initial running cost of the Hydrogen fuel train set will be higher, which will subsequently reduce with the number of trains. Further, using Hydrogen as fuel provides more significant benefits in the direction of green transportation technology to support zero carbon emission goals as a clean energy source. 


(With ANI Inputs)