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The South Korean city of Ulsan has begun preliminary work on the Hydrogen Tram Line 1, a 10.9 km project with 15 stations, without overhead catenary and powered by fuel cells, which will cost 381 billion won and will be operated by nine Hyundai Rotem trains starting in 2029.
South Korea has initiated one of the most advanced urban transport projects in the world. In Ulsan, an important industrial hub of the country, preliminary works have begun on Line 1 of a hydrogen tram that will cover 10.9 kilometers without relying on overhead electric wires, a technology that places the city at the forefront of clean and silent mobility. The route will connect Taehwagang railway station in the city center to the Sinbok neighborhood in the west, serving 15 stops along the way.
The total estimated investment is 381 billion won, and civil works are expected to effectively start in October, with inauguration scheduled for 2029. Ulsan’s hydrogen tram is not an isolated experiment: it is the first stage of a planned four-line network to completely transform how the population moves around the city, replacing polluting vehicles with a zero-emission system powered by fuel cells.
What makes the hydrogen tram different
The most striking feature of the project is the absence of catenary, the overhead wires that normally power trams and electric trains. Instead of relying on a suspended electrical network along the entire route, Ulsan’s vehicles will generate their own energy on board, through hydrogen fuel cells that produce electricity from the reaction of the gas with oxygen in the air.
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The only byproduct of this process is water vapor, making the hydrogen tram one of the cleanest forms of public transport ever developed. Besides the environmental benefit, eliminating overhead wires brings significant aesthetic and urban planning advantages: the city’s landscape is free from the visual pollution of wiring, the costs of installing and maintaining suspended electrical infrastructure disappear, and the system gains flexibility to operate in areas where catenary would be difficult or undesirable.
Hyundai Rotem and the nine trains ordered
The company responsible for manufacturing the vehicles is Hyundai Rotem, the rolling stock arm of the Hyundai conglomerate and one of the leading train manufacturers in Asia. The company signed a contract in March for 63.4 billion won to supply nine five-section trams powered by hydrogen fuel cells, specially designed for Ulsan’s Line 1.
The technology is not just a laboratory promise. Hyundai Rotem has already showcased its hydrogen tram prototype at InnoTrans 2024, one of the largest railway technology fairs in the world, held in Berlin. The development also connects to other South Korean projects: the city of Daejeon has signed a contract with the same manufacturer for the supply of dozens of hydrogen trams, demonstrating that South Korea is consistently betting on this technology as a pillar of its sustainable urban transport strategy.
A network of four lines to transform Ulsan
Line 1 is just the beginning of a much more ambitious plan. Ulsan is planning a complete network of four tram lines, which together will create a public transport grid capable of connecting the main points of the city with clean and efficient mobility. Line 2, for example, will have 13.6 kilometers on the north-south axis, linking Bukulsan railway station to the Yaeum neighborhood, passing through the city’s airport.
This network planning shows that Ulsan does not see the hydrogen tram as an isolated technological showcase, but as the backbone of its future transport system. For a city known as the industrial capital of South Korea, home to large automotive and petrochemical complexes, adopting zero-emission technology on an urban scale carries powerful symbolism: that of a region that built its economy on heavy industry now betting on the transition to a more sustainable model.
Why hydrogen is gaining ground in urban transport
The hydrogen is being studied worldwide as a viable alternative to decarbonize sectors that are difficult to electrify directly. In rail transport, it offers a specific advantage: it allows clean vehicles to operate without the need to electrify the entire track with catenary, which reduces infrastructure costs and expands implementation possibilities in cities that do not yet have an installed railway electric network.
South Korea, along with Japan, Germany, and China, is among the countries that invest the most in hydrogen mobility. The Ulsan project is part of this global movement and can serve as a reference for other medium-sized cities seeking collective transport solutions without the costs and complexity of fully electrified systems.
If it meets the schedule and starts operating in 2029 as planned, the Ulsan hydrogen tram will be one of the most observed cases in the world in the transition to zero-emission urban transport.
Would you like to see a technology like the hydrogen tram arriving in Brazilian cities? Do you believe hydrogen is the future of clean public transport, or do you bet more on other solutions, such as battery electric buses and trains? Leave your opinion in the commentss, and tag that friend who is passionate about trains and transport technology.
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