GERMANY'S HYDROGEN TRAIN FIRST

GERMANY rolls out its first hydrogen powered train, made by the French group Alstom, which also builds the  high speed TGV.

Germany on Monday rolled out the world's first hydrogen-powered train, signalling the start of a push to challenge the might of polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology.

Two bright blue Coradia iLint trains, built by French  TGV-maker  Alstom, began running a 100-kilometre [ 62-mile]  route between the towns and cities of  Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervoerde and Buxtehude in northern Germany - a stretch normally plied by Diesel trains.

''The world's first hydrogen train is entering into commercial service and is ready for serial production,'' Alstom CEO Henri Pupart-Lafarge said at an unveiling ceremony in Bremervoerde, the station where the trains will be refueled with Hydrogen.

Alstom said it plans to deliver another 14 of the zero emissions trains to the Lower Saxony state by 20121, with other German states also expressing an interest.

Hydrogen trains are equipped with  fuel cells  that produce electricity through a combination of  hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions.

Excess energy is stored in ion lithium batteries on board the train.

The Coradia iLint  trains can run for around 1,000 kilometres on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains. [AFP]