India’s hydrogen-powered train has officially entered service, placing the country among a small group of nations operating this emerging clean transport technology. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the inaugural journey on Friday, describing the launch as a significant milestone in India’s pursuit of self-reliance and sustainable development.
The train, named the NaMo Green Rail, is a ten-coach set with a seating capacity of around 2,600 passengers. It will run two return trips a day along an 89-kilometre (55-mile) route connecting Jind and Sonipat in the northern state of Haryana, close to the national capital, Delhi. Officials have described its 1,200-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell propulsion system as the most powerful of its kind fitted to a train anywhere in the world.
What Makes India’s Hydrogen-Powered Train Different
Unlike diesel locomotives, which remain the backbone of much of India’s rail network, hydrogen fuel cell technology generates electricity by combining hydrogen with oxygen. The only by-products of this reaction are heat and water vapour, making it a genuinely zero-emission alternative for routes that are difficult or costly to electrify.
A government statement issued ahead of the launch noted that the project brings together advanced propulsion technology with dedicated infrastructure for hydrogen storage, refuelling, and day-to-day operations. To support this, the Ministry of Railways has also opened what it describes as the country’s largest railway hydrogen storage and refuelling facility, located in Jind, with a capacity of roughly 3,000 kilograms of hydrogen.
With this launch, India joins Germany, Japan, China, and the United States as countries that are testing or actively operating hydrogen-powered trains, a list that remains short given the technical and financial hurdles involved in deploying the technology at scale. Germany was the first country to run a hydrogen train commercially, and Japan, China, and the United States have each since piloted their own versions on select routes.
Cost and the Road Ahead for Green Rail Transport
The pilot project reportedly cost around $12 million, a figure a senior railway official acknowledged was considerably higher than the cost of running a comparable conventional diesel service. However, the official expressed confidence that costs would decline as the technology matures and is deployed more widely across the network.
This is consistent with the pattern seen in other countries that have adopted hydrogen rail technology, where early pilot routes have typically carried a premium before broader rollout brought costs down through scale and improved manufacturing processes. Indian Railways has indicated that further expansion of hydrogen-powered services is planned, with the government aiming to extend the model to additional routes, including some in hilly and heritage areas that are less suited to conventional electrification.
The launch also fits into a wider strategy by Indian Railways to modernise what is one of the largest rail networks in the world while working toward its stated target of net-zero emissions by 2030. Since the country’s first passenger steam train ran from Mumbai in 1853, Indian Railways has undergone repeated waves of modernisation, and officials have framed the shift toward hydrogen as the next stage in that evolution. In recent years, New Delhi has invested heavily in upgrading rail infrastructure, improving safety standards, and expanding overall network capacity, and the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell technology is being positioned as part of that broader investment cycle.
A Step Toward Cleaner Rail Travel
For now, the NaMo Green Rail will operate as a pilot service between Jind and Sonipat, giving engineers and railway planners real-world operating data before any decision is made on wider deployment. Speaking after flagging off the train, Modi said India would continue working to improve efficiency, bring down costs, and expand the hydrogen rail network in the years ahead.
Whether hydrogen fuel cell technology becomes a mainstream feature of Indian Railways or remains a niche solution for specific routes will depend largely on how quickly costs fall and how reliably the system performs outside pilot conditions. Even so, the launch marks a concrete step for a country that has set ambitious climate targets, and it signals that India’s hydrogen-powered train is intended as the beginning of a broader shift toward green rail transport rather than a one-off demonstration project.
Published in SouthAsianDesk, July 18, 2026
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