Alstom is acquiring the hydrogen fuel cell activities dedicated to rail of U.S. company Cummins, which has supplied the fuel cells for its Coradia iLint trains. The move, announced on 2 April, aims to strengthen maintenance and development for Alstom’s hydrogen-powered train fleets by bringing it in-house. No financial details about the acquisition have been released.
Headquartered in the United States, Cummins designs, manufactures, sells and services diesel and alternative fuel engines. In 2015, Hydrogenics (now part of Cummins) was selected as a key partner by Alstom to develop and implement hydrogen fuel cells for Alstom’s Coradia iLint.
By now bringing Cummins rail fuel cell capabilities in-house, Alstom says it “secures development work more efficiently and efforts to support the performance, durability and energy-management needs of existing fleets and meet our commitments to our customers in Germany, Italy, and France”. Details on the aquisition are sparse, such as whether Cummins’ fuel cell production site in Germany, which produces for Alstom, is part of the deal.
Takeover after ‘pause’
At the end of last year, Alstom said it would pause “further development of hydrogen trains”, which was due to an impending discontinuation of French state funding. The solution historically provided by an external supplier (Cummins) will continue, a spokesperson told RailTech at the time. The current step to bring Cummins’ rail fuel cell department in-house proves the train manufacturer is not moving away from hydrogen, although battery trains are sold more often to replace diesel trains.
Danny Di Perna, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Alstom, stated the acquisition would help support reliability growth, maintenance, and contracted programmes. “We want to remain closely aligned with our customers’ operational needs and provide the support they expect as they move toward greener traction solutions,” he said.
Production site in Germany
The acquisition follows Cummins’ earlier investments in hydrogen fuel cell production in Germany, including a facility in Herten that began operations in 2021. The site was designed to manufacture fuel cell systems for Alstom’s hydrogen trains, with an initial capacity of 10 megawatts per year. Cummins also operates a hydrogen production facility in Belgium, supporting broader decarbonisation efforts in Europe.
Apart from Alstom as an earlier customer, Cummins also provided hydrogen fuel cells for the Austrian project HY2RAIL, for the conversion project of a light On Track Machine (OTM) Vehicle and a heavy-duty freight locomotive of ÖBB, under the name Accelera™ by Cummins, the zero-emissions business segment of Cummins Inc.
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