Hydrogen-powered trains will start to run on the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo line in the Italian Alps in the first half of 2026, with fourteen units from Alstom set to replace current diesel-fuelled locomotives.
FNM, which owns the railway’s operator Trenord, is set to spend €183m ($198m) on the trains, with another €184m to build out integrated production and refuelling infrastructure — without increasing the cost of tickets.
“Electric trains have a lower cost than hydrogen trains, but they require a different infrastructure,” said Andrea Gibelli, FNM’s president, in an interview with Reuters, noting that the line would have been closed down for three years to put up 103km of overhead lines and rebuild 28 tunnels.
He estimated that electrification would have cost FNM €450m, without accounting for wider disruption from shutting down the line for three years.
And although green hydrogen would cost €10-15/kg at point of delivery, Gibelli argues this is still cheaper than running the trains on electrified overhead lines.
“It is still convenient if you add up the avoided costs of electrifying the network, purchasing electric trains and then the ecological impact,” he said.
The transit group has also drawn on EU funds via the Italian post-Covid recovery and resiliency plan, as well as support from the regional Lombardy government.
FNM will own and operate electrolysers along Brescia, Iseo and Edolo, in order to avoid dependence on supply from third parties. These are expected to be built while the line is down for maintenance up until September this year.
While this will be the first large-scale hydrogen train project in Italy, H2 trains have been operated elsewhere in Europe.
However, multiple lines in Germany which converted to run on hydrogen have seen problems, from technical faults with the trains to H2 supply disruptions.
