The world's first hydrogen-powered train has made its final stop

Hydrogen fuel-cell trains were found to be 80 percent more expensive than battery-powered alternatives.© Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images

Germany’s state-owned, $85 million hydrogen fuel-cell powered train system is shuttering almost exactly one year after its first public debute in August 2022. This doesn’t mean that the railways are reverting back to pollutant-spewing diesel engines, however. According to the country’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transport, Building and Digitisation, the lines will transition to electric battery-driven systems that are simply “cheaper to operate.”