INNOTRANS: Alstom Chairman & CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge considers what transport will be like in the future in the latest episode of the InnoTrans Podcast, including how freight will be transported and how mobility will change in urban and rural areas.
Poupart-Lafarge says future transport must be be greener, more digital, more interconnected and more comfortable. Travelling should no longer be regarded as time wasted, but should offer maximum comfort.
He said Alstom’s unveiling of a fuel cell powered regional passenger train at InnoTrans 2018 had changed people’s perceptions of the technology. At the time many train operators had doubts about the use of hydrogen fuel cells, but now it is being more widely accepted.
‘Rail transport is the backbone of mobility for efficient and above all climate-friendly mass passenger transport’, said Poupart-Lafarge. He added that freight should also be transported primarily by rail, but suggested that freight rail movements should ideally be ‘invisible’ and take place at night.
- Railway Gazette is the only official international media partner for InnoTrans 2022, which is scheduled to take place in Berlin on September 20-23 2022.
