A project to establish the feasibility of using existing rail infrastructure and procedures to facilitate the rapid and cost effective movement of significant quantities of hydrogen.

Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions Ltd will use this project to develop a Commercialisation Strategy for hydrogen powered rail vehicles that utilise alternative fuel storage mediums. By exploring the market, customer demands, financial, safety and testing requirements, Vanguard will be able to create an evidenced route to market that can be used to attract further investment to rapidly bring products to market.

This joint project between Vanguard Sustainable Transport Solutions Ltd and the University of Birmingham's Birmingham Centre for Rail Research and Education (BCRRE) develops an exchangeable novel fuel storage technology which will accelerate the development and adoption of hydrogen powered freight locomotives that are fit for purpose on the UK network with minimal changes to existing operational methods. To further encourage adoption, an intelligent fuel management system will be developed in conjunction with the fuel storage technology to ensure fuel generation and supply is optimised in the most efficient and cost effective ways possible. The project will output demonstrators of both the fuel storage solution and the fuel management system, both integrated into Vanguard's HydroShunter demonstration project. A leading, UK based, freight operator are supporting Vanguard and BCRRE on this project.

This project is focused on researching the feasibility of implementing hydrogen powered, retro fitted locomotives and multiple units into the Serbian railway system. The feasibility will focus on identifying suitable vehicles for conversion, the concept design of a modular drivetrain, identification of routes that will support the vehicles and the hydrogen refuelling infrastructure required to facilitate the implementation.