Org that issued bids for hydrogen trains shuts shop

Barely a month after the Indian Railways Organization of Alternate Fuel (IROAF), a green fuel vertical of the Railways, invited bids for hydrogen fuel cell-based technology for trains, the national transporter has issued an order to shut down the organisation. This was done through an order issued on September 7. The Railways, however, said that ongoing projects or contracts will not be affected in any way. "Ministry of Railways has decided to close down the Indian Railways Organization for Alternate Fuels' with effect from September 7, 2021," the order stated. "Only administrative change. Projects will be executed as usual," the Railways said. The order has also stated that the work of IROAF will be transferred to the Northern Railways and the Railway Board. The solar power rolling stock or the Alternate Fuel Electrical Directorate of the organisation will be transferred to the Railway Board. Its existing tenders and contracts, if any, about solar power will be handled by the Northern Railway. All work related to hydrogen fuel cells, including their tenders, will be transferred to the Northern Railways. Last month, the ministry had said that under the project to run hydrogen trains, two DEMU rakes will be converted at first to use hydrogen as fuel. Rs 8 crore has been set aside for this phase in the current year. Later, two hybrid narrow gauge locomotives will be retrofitted with hydrogen fuel cell power movement. Using hydrogen will be a major step towards lowering pollution from trains as the gas is known to be the greenest transport fuel. Hydrogen can be generated easily by electrolysing the water from solar energy, the ministry had stated earlier.

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