The New Energy of Rail: Ansgar Brockmeyer on Stadler’s Battery and Hydrogen Revolution

With hundreds of trains in service and more on order, Stadler is setting the pace for cleaner, smarter mobility. In an exclusive interview with RAILTARGET, Ansgar Brockmeyer explains how the company is leading Europe’s transition to alternative drives.

 What does Expo Ferroviaria mean for Stadler in terms of opportunities and partnerships?

Expo Expo Ferroviaria is the most important trade fair here, in the Italian region. We’ve been here for many, many years, and this year is the first one when we have a real train on display, here in the hall. We meet all of our customers here, and it's a fantastic opportunity to see them and all our friends to exchange views and perspectives.

You’ve presented the Stadler Battery Electric Train here. Could you briefly introduce the platform for RAILTARGET and share with us which EU countries already have them in service or ordered?

We are the market leader in battery and hydrogen trains, basically all the trains with alternative drives. We have more than 260 contracts on order for battery and hydrogen trains. The first fleet for battery trains was the large fleet in Germany, where we have delivered 54 vehicles, which have been in operation for two years. And we have other contracts here, in Italy, as well as Germany, and the US. That’s the train right behind me. Many more countries are already exploring the possibilities of alternative drives.

Can you tell us something more about your hydrogen train?

Yes, of course. This FLIRT H2 is for the US. We signed the contract a couple of years ago, and just three weeks ago, it went into passenger operation in San Bernardino County. We have other hydrogen trains on order. Today, we have signed another two hydrogen trains for the beautiful island of Sicily, for the Circumetnea Ferrovia. They will start operations very soon there. We have two other customers for hydrogen trains in Italy, in Sardinia and Calabria, so we are very optimistic that this technology will have a breakthrough very soon.

As a market leader, how do you see the future of Stadler and the wider rail market over the next few years?

The rail market is still a growing one. Unlike other markets, we still have a very significant growth perspective. Stadler has constantly outperformed the market growth for the last couple of years, and I see no reason why this should not be the case in the future.