Indian Railways develops 1,200 HP hydrogen engine

Indian Railways has achieved a major milestone with the development of a 1,200 HP hydrogen engine, using indigenous technology. This is also the most powerful hydrogen-powered train engine developed anywhere in the world so far, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.

The minister was speaking at the plenary session of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention on `Green Connections: Diaspora's Contribution to Sustainable Development’. He said that only four countries in the world make hydrogen engines for trains.

While these engines produce somewhere between 500 and 600 horsepower, the indigenous engine manufactured by a unit of the Indian Railways, using own technology, gives an output of 1,200 horsepower, reports quoted Vaishnaw as saying.

The minister said the manufacturing of the engine has completed and currently the system integration with the train set is in progress. Plans are also afoot for the first trial run of the train on the Jind-Sonipat route in Haryana, he added.

Describing the benefits of the development, Vaishnaw mentioned that it will have spin-off effects on the country’s manufacturing sector as the engine’s power could be suitably scaled back for developing hydrogen-powered buses, trucks etc.

He said the technological advancements could lead to the creation of derivative technologies for various other applications as well.

Besides, he said, the technological advancement gives a boost to the nation’s confidence, which in turn would lead to achieving greater technological self-sufficiency.