Canada's first hydrogen train is taking passengers

The first hydrogen-powered train in North America is taking riders on a two-and-a-half hour trip through central Quebec this summer.

It's a demonstration that launched earlier this month to show how electricity stored as hydrogen can replace diesel fuel on railways where installing electrified rails or overhead wires would be challenging.

Advocates for the use of hydrogen in heavy transportation say it could raise awareness and boost confidence in the emerging technology in North America.

The tourist train made by French company Alstom runs from Montmorency Falls in Quebec City to Baie-Saint-Paul — partway along the Train de Charlevoix route — on Wednesday through Sunday until Sept. 30, carrying up to 120 people in two rail cars.

Nancy Belley, general manager of Réseau Charlevoix, the private railway that runs the train, says it's an extraordinary chance for her company. She told CBC News in French that riding the train is like being in another world.

"When you think that you've left your car behind, and get on board a train that emits water vapour, you feel that you're part of an important decarbonization movement in Quebec," she said. 

The train uses about 50 kilograms of hydrogen a day, estimates Serge Harnois, CEO of Harnois Énergies, which supplies the fuel. That replaces about 500 litres of diesel that would be burned during the journey.

While fossil fuels may be peaking, "we are at the beginning of the history of hydrogen," said Harnois.

The same model of train, known as the Coradia iLint, has previously carried passengers in eight European countries. Germany, purchased a version which uses Canadian-made fuel cells for a hydrogen-only route last year.

Belley says Alstom approached Réseau Charlevoix and Groupe Le Massif, which owns the rails, because it was looking for somewhere in North America to test its train. The Train de Charlevoix route was ideal as it already used European technology, and the new train was a good fit for the existing infrastructure.

Alstom said this week that the commercial operation of the train will allow it and its partners to see what's needed to develop "an ecosystem for hydrogen propulsion technology" in North America. 

The Quebec government said in February that it was investing $3 million in the $8 million project. At the time, Environment Minister Benoit Charette said it was part of the province's plan for a green economy by 2030, which relies on hydrogen to decarbonize parts of the economy where conventional electrification isn't possible.

So far, Belley says, it seems like the North American regulations can work with a European train.

And, she says, it also appears that this technology lends itself well to low-density areas, like the rural Charlevoix region, where transportation might otherwise be harder to electrify.