Deploying battery and hydrogen rolling stock: is the infrastructure ready?
Non-electrified railway tracks Pxhere
In a month from today, the Rail Infra Forum takes place, where everything regarding sustainable alternatives for diesel operations in rail takes central stage, including the necessary infrastructure to facilitate battery-powered trains or hydrogen units. The main goal of the event is to link sustainable rolling stock developments with the necessary progress infrastructure to deploy them, such as refuelling and recharging.
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For railways, by far the safest and most energy effective on shore mode, regrettably diesel is not the big issue!
(Optimal benefitting of railways, now has to be top priority!)
Electrification, yes, but a redundant, an optimal, etc.!
Neither capacity and utilisation of vast assets shall be hampered, by low price, but high cost infrastructure standard – as currently the TEN-T.
(Short of resiliency, not upgradable and not even sustaining current load, current track standard is not sustainable!)
I guess that batteries will the the prime energy supply for tracks without catenaries. The extra weight can be easily moved on rail, better than on roads.
I fear hydrogen is a preferred playground of politicians, as it somehow looks modern, something is moving, and is an excuse not to go forward with renewable energy, that looks rather “complicated” that way. I suspect these highly subsidised “pilot projects” will not go far beyond burning taxpayer money, also not help hydrogen in power supply.