Green initiative: Hydrogen trains on eight heritage routes likely soon

New Delhi: As a new year gift, the Indian Railways is introducing a green revolution and starting hydrogen and electric trains on the eight heritage routes.The trains, aimed at promoting tourism, will bring back the steam engines in a new avatar to give an appearance of the old steam-spewing “black beauties”. They will be equipped with the vintage sirens, periodically spitting “green” steam vapours, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said.The new trains will run on Matheran Hill Railways in Maharashtra, Kalka-Shimla Railways, Darjeelings Hills, Nilgiri Mountain Railways, Kangra Railways, Bilimora Waghai, Mhow-Patalpani and Marwar-devgarh-Madriya route.Mr Vaishnav has ordered prototype model of such steam engines at the Golden Rocks Workshop of the Railways in Tamil Nadu as also at the Railways workshop at Ajmer, Rajasthan.

The cabins or the coaches of the heritage trains will be retro-fitted with a hydrogen-propulsion mechanism, with vistadome coaches to let the passengers enjoy the natural landscape of the regions.The minister said the hydrogen-propelled engines will also be used for the commercial purposes by the year-end. It will bring India in the league of select nations like Germany, France and China, which are already producing the hydrogen engines.The same kind of engines may be introduced later on the metre gauge rail lines that were shut down as uneconomical.