Railroad Research Institute and Hyundai Rotem Promote Technical Cooperation on Hydrogen Energy Railroad Systems

Na Heeseung, President of the Korea Railroad Research Institute (right), and Lee Yong-bae, CEO of Hyundai Rotem, signed a business agreement related to the "Research and Development of Hydrogen Energy-Based Railroad Systems" at Hyundai Rotem's Uiwang headquarters on the 4th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] Korea Railroad Research Institute (KRRI) and Hyundai Rotem recently announced on the 5th that they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) related to ‘Research and Development of Hydrogen Energy-Based Railroad Systems’ at Hyundai Rotem’s headquarters in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province.

KRRI and Hyundai Rotem explained that they agreed on the necessity of early introduction of hydrogen energy-based railroad systems, which are gaining attention as a future new concept transportation means, in line with the national hydrogen expansion policy, and thus signed this MOU.

Through this MOU, KRRI and Hyundai Rotem will cooperate in technology exchange for the development of hydrogen electric trains such as trams, electric trains, and locomotives, as well as in conducting research for the early introduction of hydrogen electric trains. In addition, they plan to operate a working-level council to establish concrete implementation plans for the cooperation.

Hyundai Rotem is actively advancing the development and commercialization of hydrogen electric trains. They plan to complete the production of a performance test platform vehicle for the hydrogen electric tram, which has been under development since last year, by 2021. Furthermore, in August, they signed a business agreement with Ulsan City for a demonstration project of the hydrogen electric tram.

The hydrogen electric tram being developed by Hyundai Rotem has air purification capabilities during the operation of the hydrogen fuel cell, which is expected to have an urban air purification effect, and it is an eco-friendly railroad vehicle with zero pollutant emissions.

Also, by modularizing systems necessary for driving such as hydrogen fuel cells and mounting them on the vehicle roof, a low-floor structure can be realized, resulting in excellent passenger space efficiency. The low-floor structure has the advantage of a low height between the ground and the vehicle floor, making boarding and alighting convenient not only for general passengers but also for transportation-vulnerable groups such as wheelchair users and stroller users.

A Hyundai Rotem official said, "We are making various efforts aiming at the commercialization of hydrogen electric trains such as the hydrogen electric tram currently under development," and added, "Through this MOU with KRRI, we will do our best to commercialize eco-friendly hydrogen electric trains at an early stage."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.