CSR unveils hydrogen fuel cell tram

China has successfully developed the technology that enables the use of hydrogen to fuel rail vehicles, as it presented on March 19, Thursday, the world’s first hydrogen-powered tramcar at an assembly facility in Qingdao.

Liang Jianying, chief engineer of Sifang Co., a subsidiary of China South Rail Corporation (CSR), told Xinhua that China is the only country in the world that has fully developed the technology for rail system and the new tram is the only one of its kind in the field.

“It took two years for Sifang to solve key technological problems, with the help of research institutions,” Liang was quoted as saying. Hydrogen fuel cells are considered as a new source of clean energy, which are popularly used in automobiles but rarely applied in rail transportation, the report said.

The report added that refilling the tram with hydrogen only takes about three minutes, but it can run the distance of 100 kilometers at the maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour.