Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) will soon begin testing a new train developed at its Zaragoza plant that will run on green hydrogen supplied by Iberdrola from its Barcelona plant.
The FCH2RAIL project, led by CAF, is already in the advanced stages of designing and manufacturing a hydrogen train prototype that will replace the transmission system in a Renfe Civia series commuter unit. One of the first railway demonstrators of a bimode vehicle with a hydrogen cell, it generates electricity by combining energy from hydrogen cells and batteries, then integrating it with the vehicle’s existing traction system.
According to company sources, the agreement was signed by CAF’s Director of Technology, Iosu Ibarbia, and the electricity company’s Director of Green Hydrogen, Millán Garca-Tola, to promote the use of green hydrogen in the railway and passenger transportation sectors.
This partnership is the result of both companies’ convictions that they can provide comprehensive sustainable mobility solutions, ranging from rolling stock and refueling infrastructure to green hydrogen production plants and renewable energy infrastructure.
In environments such as the railway sector and people transportation, the goal is also to develop the renewable hydrogen value chain with the highest standards of safety, technology, and competitiveness, assisting local companies in developing the technology and productive capacity to promote the sector’s transformation in Spain and participate in the international market.
