The State of California has exercised an option under its contract signed in October 2023 for Stadler to supply six more FLIRT H2 hydrogen-powered trains.
The additional vehicles will expand California's fleet of hydrogen trains to ten. The original order was for four four-car hydrogen-powered rail vehicles, and these six additional state-of-the-art hydrogen-powered trains are for the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and Caltrans.
A total of 25 trains are covered by the original contract signed last October.
During extensive testing in both Switzerland and the USA, Stadler's hydrogen train has proved to be extremely reliable and displayed exceptional performance. The SBCTA FLIRT H2 has also performed well in pre-revenue testing and highlights that Stadler has designed a quality product that fulfils the needs of its clients.
As well as this order for California, Stadler has notched up other successes in the USA, Germany, Italy, Austria and Lithuania that confirm the company as a leader in alternative and ecological drive systems using batteries and hydrogen. Stadler's record shows that to date it has sold over 150 battery- or hydrogen-powered trains.
Martin Ritter, CEO of Stadler US, says, “We are very proud to be providing additional hydrogen trains to the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) and Caltrans. With our multiple units, we are jointly driving the decarbonization of rail transportation in the US. We thank CalSTA and Caltrans for their trust and look forward to deepening our partnership.”
“Stadler is committed to making travel in North America more environmentally friendly and offering innovative solutions to the region's specific challenges. Given the limited electrification of rail lines in the U.S., the FLIRT H2 proves to be particularly significant. Hydrogen technology enables sustainable mobility as it is an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional drives.
Ansgar Brockmeyer, Stadler's EVP of Marketing and Sales, said “Stadler is thus actively pursuing the goal of modernizing public transport in North America and making a contribution to environmental protection in the process.”
I wonder where the State of California is intending to source the hydrogen to run these trains? This can only be made by electrolysing water (if the hydrogen is to be “green” and help “decarbonise California’s transport system”.
However, electricity is something California is a bit short of, having shut down all but one of its nuclear stations, all its coal-fired ones, and a lot of its gas-fired ones, so as to decarbonise its electrical supply systems.