The Anonymous Widower

Alstom Hydrogen Aventras And The Reopened Northumberland Line

In Alstom And Eversholt Rail Sign An Agreement For The UK’s First Ever Brand-New Hydrogen Train Fleet, I give my thoughts on Alstom’s new hydrogen train, which I have called the Alstom Hydrogen Aventra.

Would this train be suitable for the Northumberland Line?

This is a caption to a picture in this article on the BBC, which is entitled Northumberland Line: Railway ‘Could Create Economic Powerhouse’.

The Northumberland Line could connect Blyth and Newcastle with half hourly services and journey times of under 25 minutes.

This timetable would mean that between two and four trains would be needed to provide the service.

In my posts on the Northumberland Line, I show a strong preference for battery-electric trains and in particular those proposed by Hitachi, which would be built in their factory at Newton Aycliffe, which is a dozen miles to the South. These trains would have batteries produced by Hyperdrive Innovation in Sunderland.

I dismissed hydrogen trains, as until this week no viable new hydrogen train for the UK rail network had been proposed.

But this week, Alstom announced their hydrogen-powered Aventra.

I suspect a small fleet of these trains could work the Northumberland Line.

My only reservation would be that their operating speed was in line with the speed needed on the short sections of the East Coast Main Line used by the Northumberland Line service.

November 14, 2021 - Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | Alstom, Alstom Hydrogen Aventra, Hydrogen-Powered Trains, Northumberland Line (Newcastle And Ashington/Blyth)