It’s been a while since I’ve talked about hydrail (hydrogen railway) technology. But, talked about or not hydrogen trains keep on rolling (as I was graciously reminded by Hydrail.org Chairman Stan Thompson). In fact, the Fourth International Hydrail Conference is rolling right into Valencia, Spain on June 9, 2008 to discuss advances in fuel cell locomotive technology and infrastructure building.
The hydrail conference is being hosted by the Appalachian State University Energy Center, NTDA Energía and the Hydrogen Economy Advancement Team (HEAT). The countries of Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Spain, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States will be participating.
Fuel cell maker Ballard and hydrogen gas manufacturer Air Products will also be on hand to talk about successes over the past year along with challenges ahead for the hydrail industry. Greg Ayres from the U. S. Department of Transportation will give the keynote address and talk about hydrogen streetcar, commuter rail, monorail and light rail technology plus how fuel cell trains could be more cost effective than electrified trains.
The map on this page is from the Hydrail.org website and shows the countries that are currently participating in hydrogen rail projects. So take a plane, then ride a train to get to the Fourth International Hydrail Conference in Valencia, Spain and you, too can keep the momentum rolling.
As a follow-up I had asked Stan Thompson, something puzzling me about the map, “On the map, the countries in purple are referred to a Hyrail. I am assuming these are hybrid type railway vehicles other than trains?”
Mr. Thompson replied, “… ‘HyRail’ is a study project of the Union Internationale Des Chemins De Fer (International Union of Railways-Paris) referring to a cost study designed to get EU funding for hydrail projects in Europe. The word ‘hydrail’ [never capitalized because there is a grinding machine manufacturer by that name] is the generic work for any railway traction technology using onboard hydrogen – ICE as well as FCs.