OCEANSIDE — The North County Transit District is flirting with the concept of zero-emission, hydrogen-fueled trains through a planned pilot program with the California State Department of Transportation.
NCTD has expressed interest in entering into an agreement with the state Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, to test out a fleet of zero-emission trains based on Swiss manufacturer Stadler’s Fast Light Innovative Rail Trains, or FLIRT.
The fleet of 10 hybrid hydrogen fuel cell and battery vehicles, known as FLIRT H2, is expected to arrive by late 2027 or early 2028.
Caltrans contracted with Stadler back in 2023 to procure the trains and is currently completing the final design phase. In the meantime, the agency has been assessing potential areas for deployment and testing their feasibility, Caltrans Rail Division Chief Kyle Gradinger told the NCTD Board of Directors on Sept. 18.
After examining infrastructure and service patterns throughout the state, Caltrans identified the San Diego County section of the LOSSAN (Los Angeles-San Luis Obispo-San Diego) Rail Corridor, along with its operator, NCTD, as an ideal option.
“We’ve identified that the south end of the LOSSAN corridor demonstrates an optimal balance of implementation, feasibility, operational readiness, and strategic benefits,” Gradinger said. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity to work with you all at NCTD to deploy some of the most advanced trains in North America.”
Gradinger said Caltrans plans to utilize these trains for the Amtrak Surfliner, which runs the entirety of the LOSSAN corridor, during some of the midday slots.
The FLIRT deployment would follow a phased approach, starting with testing of the trains on the NCTD rail and then raising visibility for the new cars ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Officials from NCTD and Caltrans stated that they would be interested in presenting a memorandum of understanding for the FLIRT pilot program. Caltrans would cover operational costs.
“I’m looking forward to seeing this come before us as an MOU. Thank you for letting us know that we’re going to be hopefully one of those people piloting this,” said NCTD Board Chair and Carlsbad City Councilmember Priya Bhat-Patel.
While the new trains wouldn’t initially be in revenue service, Gradinger said it would be an “opportunity for the general public to view the trains and see what the potential future viability looks like.”
Each train set would have around 200 seats, with the ability to link two sets together. Caltrans will also have the option to purchase 19 additional sets.
Along with the Surfliner, NCTD board members said they would also like to see FLIRT trains be used for the Sprinter service connecting Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido, due to issues with the current fleet.
“I’m really interested in having this on the Sprinter side, because we have a lot of mechanical issues with the Sprinter right now,” said NCTD Board Member and Vista City Councilmember Corinna Contreras. “If we figure out the LOSSSAN corridor, it’s still really hard for people. I’m in Vista, and it’s hard for us to go inland or even to go to Frontwave, you know, in Oceanside and whatnot.”
Before the FLIRT H2 arrives on the San Diego County rail scene, leaders said there is a lot of work to be done at the state level to support hydrogen-fueled transit.
The costs of green hydrogen, or hydrogen produced using clean energy to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen without emissions, have risen rapidly without any sign of stabilizing. NCTD CEO Shawn Donaghy said while there is hydrogen buy-in from transit agencies, there needs to be more investment from the energy sector.
“There’s a lot of different things I think need to happen at the state level to make that happen. It will increase our fuel cost if it doesn’t stabilize itself,” Donaghy said.
Donaghy added that he anticipates that more hydrogen will be available when the FLIRT trains are in full service, closer to 2030.
“We’re banking on that. That’s part of the infrastructure throughput of this project at least, is to even look at our own area, and should we have our own hydrogen facility in North County,” he said.
NCTD recently broke ground on a hydrogen fueling station at its West Bus Division in Oceanside, which will fuel the hydrogen fuel cell electric buses in the BREEZE fleet.
This FLIRT H2 fleet would comprise the first entirely hydrogen-propelled rail fleet in North America, according to Caltrans.
