Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announces – India’s first Hydrogen Train will come by December 2023
The lack of investment in Railways for years have been a hurdle in it’s development . On 1 February , while announcing the Union Budget 2023 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced Rs. 2.4 lakh crore for Indian Railways . This is considered as the highest outlay for railways .
Later after this announcement , Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Wednesday that India will get it’s first hydrogen train by December 2023 which will be indigenously manufactured . The minister mentioned that at starting this train would run on heritage circuits like Kalka- Shimla and then may be later it will be expanded to other places .
Hydrogen trains are those that use hydrogen fuel cells rather than traditional diesel engines . The hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity by converting hydrogen and oxygen which is used to power train’s motors . Also the hydrogen fuel cells emit no carbon dioxide , resulting in zero carbon emission .
Apart from these hydrogen trains , Vande Metro a mini version of Vande Bharat Express trains is also being developed along with 400 new Vande Bharat trains , Delhi – Merrut RRTS and more expressways . Vande Metro will enable people living around big cities to travel to and fro between their workplace and hometown according to the Railway Minister .
In his statement , Ashwini Vaishnaw said , “ Now apart from ICF Chennai , Vande Bharat trains will be manufactured in Haryana’s Sonipat and Maharashtra’s Latur and it will fulfil PM Modi’s dream of connecting every corner with Vande Bharat trains .”
