SWEDEN: During InnoTrans shunting and terminal services company Väte Rail signed an agreement to use a hydrogen shunting locomotive to be supplied by Polish manufacturer Pesa within two years.
Väte Rail has a contract to provide shunting services for a steelmaker using vehicles provided by Hankavik. In June the two Swedish companies visited Poland to test Pesa’s prototype SM42-6Dn hydrogen fuel cell shunting locomotive.
They subsequently signed a letter of intent covering use of a loco in Sweden and co-operation to provide a hydrogen ecosystem including refuelling infrastructure.
‘Our strategy is to decarbonise our entire transport operations by 2030’, said Jan Forslund, President and owner of Väte Rail. ’Our vision is to be the greenest rail carrier in Sweden, and I believe that if you want to be green on the railways, you have to use hydrogen drives.’
President of Hankavik Adrian Lindqvist said ’the shunting locomotives used in Scandinavia are worn-out old vehicles, and the ecological and quiet hydrogen locomotive seems ideal to replace them’.
Pesa is currently developing a hydrogen locomotive which can also use electric power for trip freight serves. The prototype is expected to be ready at the end of 2026.
