Germany on Wednesday inaugurated the world’s first railway line that runs entirely on hydrogen, a major step for the decarbonisation of the railway sector, despite the challenges and supply problems raised by this innovative technology, informs AFP.

The fleet of 14 trains, supplied by the French group Alstom in the state of Lower Saxony, now runs on the 100-kilometer line that connects the cities of Cuxhaven, Bremerhaven, Bremervorde and Buxtehude, located a short distance from Hamburg, according to Agerpres.

“We are very proud to have been able to bring this technology to commercial operation in a world first,” said Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge on Wednesday.

Conceived in France, in the city of Tarbes, and assembled in Salzgitter, in Germany, the hydrogen trains of the Alstom group – called Coradia iLint – represent a first in this sector of activity.

The new technology is the privileged track of the authorities to reduce CO2 emissions and to replace diesel locomotives, which still operate on 20% of the railway routes in Germany.

The new fleet, which cost “93 million euros”, will avoid the situation in which “4,400 tons of CO2 would be generated every year”, according to LNVG, the regional operator of the network.