Review Meeting for the Draft of Technical Conditions for On-board Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems in Rail Transit Held Successfully

Developing green and low-carbon transportation is an important measure for the transportation industry to strengthen the construction of ecological civilization, serve the national goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and thoroughly win the critical battle of pollution prevention and control. With the rapid development of proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology, fuel cell technology has begun demonstration applications in the automotive sector. In particular, fuel cell industrial vehicles have gradually entered the commercialization stage in European and US countries, and large-scale development is expected to occur soon. In the field of rail transit, China's research on fuel cell rail transit started relatively early, and its technological level is on par with that of developed countries such as Japan, Germany, and the UK. However, the lack of national or industry standards and specifications in the field of fuel cell rail transit is one of the important reasons for its inability to be applied and promoted on a large scale.

CRRC Industrial Research Institute Co., Ltd., CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd., Tongji University, CRRC Science and Technology Innovation (Beijing) Co., Ltd., CRRC Qishuyan Locomotive Co., Ltd., and CRRC Qingdao Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock Co., Ltd., among other entities, conducted a survey on safety requirements, technical requirements, test methods, type inspections, etc., by collecting existing engineering application experiences, relevant research findings, test and detection results, and feedback from users. They gathered relevant technical data, determined the direction for standard formulation, and drafted and formulated the "Technical Conditions for On-board Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems in Rail Transit."

On May 28, 2025, the Standardization Technical Committee of the China Communications and Transportation Association organized a review meeting in Beijing for the draft of the group standard "Technical Conditions for On-board Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems in Rail Transit" (for public comments). The New Technology Promotion Branch, as the proposing entity of the standard, undertook the comprehensive service work for this meeting.

Li Haichuan, former Deputy Chief Engineer of China Academy of Railway Sciences (Beijing) Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. and member of the Standardization Technical Committee of the China Communications and Transportation Association; Wang Jijian, former Deputy Chief Engineer of China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group Co., Ltd. and member of the Standardization Technical Committee of the China Communications and Transportation Association; Zhang Wentao, Senior Engineer of the China Academy of Transportation Sciences under the Ministry of Transport and member of the Standardization Technical Committee of the China Communications and Transportation Association; Li Ming, Deputy Director of the Product R&D Center of CRRC Digital Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd.; and Wang Shuofeng, Associate Professor of Beijing University of Technology, attended the meeting as review experts.

Zhang Bo, Senior Engineer, Gao Yanan, Engineer, and Zhao Jinhai, Engineer, from CRRC Industrial Research Institute Co., Ltd., and Wang Yanrong, Senior Engineer, from CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd., attended the meeting as representatives of the drafting group.

In accordance with the procedures and requirements of the meeting agenda, the host first introduced the participants, announced the list of review group experts, and confirmed the leader of the review group. Subsequently, the drafting group presented the main content, formulation status, and the results of the survey, analysis, and demonstration of the draft for public comments. The expert group reviewed the standard content item by item, and finally, after inquiries, meeting minutes were formed and read out.

Introduction to the Group Standard "Technical Specifications for On-board Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems in Rail Transit":

The Group Standard "Technical Specifications for On-board Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Systems in Rail Transit" stipulates the terms and definitions, system composition, environmental conditions, safety requirements, technical requirements, test methods, test rules, as well as aspects related to marking, packaging, transportation, and storage of on-board hydrogen fuel cell power generation systems for rail transit. It is applicable to the R&D design and testing of on-board proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell systems for rail transit that use hydrogen and air as reactants.

The formulation of this standard is conducive to enhancing the quality and technological level of fuel cell systems for rail transit in China, breaking down and reducing technical barriers. It supports the vigorous development of fuel cell-powered rail transit in China, facilitates technological transformation in rail transit concerning energy conservation, carbon reduction, pollution prevention and control, ecological and environmental protection and restoration, and resource conservation and intensive utilization. It provides strong support for promoting the harmonious development of transportation and nature and accelerating the construction of a transportation powerhouse.

Since the Subcommittee for the Promotion of New Technologies initiated the work on group standards in April 2021, it has initiated over 230 projects for the establishment of group standards, published over 70 standards, and solicited over 200 adopting units for group standards. It has organized over 40 standard release and promotion conferences. These standards cover comprehensive transportation fields such as railway, highway, civil aviation, and urban passenger transport management, involving multiple professional technologies including bridges, roads, tunnels, integrated transportation, and rail transit.