Plans to advance Hydrogen for Transport Programme announced

The Department for Transport has announced plans to progress its Hydrogen for Transport Programme, with £6.3m funding going towards new hydrogen refuse trucks and hydrogen refuelling station in Glasgow.

It also announced the ambition for Tees Valley to become a new Hydrogen Transport Hub, and has commissioned a masterplan to understand the feasibility of the hub and how it can accelerate the UK’s ambitions in Hydrogen.

The masterplan, expected to be published in January, will pave the way for exploring how green hydrogen could power buses, HGV, rail, maritime and aviation transport across the UK. The aim would then be for the region to kick on and become a global leader in industrial research on the subject of hydrogen as a fuel as well as an R&D hub for hydrogen transport more generally, attracting hundreds of jobs and boosting the local economy in the process.

The announcement comes as the first ever hydrogen powered train will run on the UK mainline today (30 September), as part of a trial known as HydroFLEX.