Your isolation scenario would change nothing for the rail system, but would deny the general consumer of excess renewable generation capacity when not needed by rail.
Much of this hinges on the detail design … and the political ‘incentives’ provided for operation … of the very specific hydrogen-provision infrastructure that is an integral part of an iLINT operation. This is even more particularly true of the ‘portable’ apparatus mentioned in the Holland story.
This very well may be some relation of the Formula E ‘carbon-neutral’ charging equipment that uses Cummins engines fueled on, of all things, glycerin or some very similar chemical analog. The pure well-to-wheel ‘economics’ of hydrogen as a “fuel” are well-recognized, even in reasonably complete studies like the one from Imperial College, London, as ridiculously expensive if only ‘carbon-neutrality’ is the criterion; it’s only when you get to strict carbon avoidance (or maximum reductions) that things like ammonia fuel or the iLINT asynchronous recharge, or the BMW later work on fuel cells for the parasite loads on an otherwise-nonhydrogen-IC/hybrid-traction-powered automobile make full ‘socioeconomic’ sense.
When I was tinkering with carrier hydrogen about 35 years ago, the basic ‘operating premise’ was that t
These units are only used to reduce the carbon footprint on lines where electrification is too costly for now. Shall we more appropriately use the term environmental value or benefit rather than social benefit?
Personally, I think both those terms are appropriate in the political ‘societies’ in which iLINT trains will be established and run. In many European cultures, the idea not only of carbon-caused AGW but the actual need for carbon reduction and perhaps even active abatement has become almost a priority. This makes full ‘carbon free’ cycle something that societies will actively support, presumably both with their votes and a share of their taxed income, to a greater extent than something “merely” carbon-neutral … or that still represents a higher carbon percentage, renewable or otherwise, than a renewables/biosourced hydrogen-carrier infrastructure involves.