In order to enable a more sustainable transport sector in the future, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed with the aim of designing a pipeline network for hydrogen transmission. The objective of the optimisation is the minimisation of the network cost while taking hydraulics into consideration. Relevant features, i.e., maximum flow rate and facility location problem are included. Furthermore, the objective of pipeline safety is investigated based on an index-based risk assessment by Kim et al. (2011). To examine the capabilities of the developed model, a case study on Germany is conducted for several scenarios. The optimised networks are discussed and compared. A Pareto frontier is computed in order to study the trade-off between network cost and safety. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.