Kassel (dpa/lhe) – According to its own statements, the railway has saved more than 620 tons of climate-damaging carbon dioxide since its test conversion to biofuel in the north-west Hesse network. Board member Evelyn Palla spoke on Friday in Kassel of an “immediate climate protection measure”. “Together with the North Hessian Transport Association and the State of Hesse, we are taking an important step towards phasing out diesel and climate neutrality,” she said.
In the test, which has been running since October 1, the railway and the Nordhessischer Verkehrsverbund (NVV) in Kassel are refueling 30 trains of the Kurhessenbahn (KHB) with the biofuel HVO (“Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils”/”Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils”). By the end of March 2023, around 200,000 liters should flow into the tanks of the locomotives. Hesse’s Transport Minister Tarek Al-Wazir (Greens) spoke of an innovative pilot project. “The goal should be to find as many imitators as possible,” he said.
According to the information provided, the biofuel used at KHB consists of biological residues and waste and is free of palm oil. Compared to conventional diesel, it saves around 90 percent of CO2 emissions. The trains are refueled at the rail fuel station in Kassel. The diesel locomotives do not have to be specially converted to HVO.
The north-west Hesse network covers a 308-kilometer route network and is operated by KHB, which belongs to Deutsche Bahn, on behalf of the NVV, the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) and the Zweckverband Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe (NWL). There are around 160 train journeys there every day.