SPANISH national operator Renfe has awarded Alstom and Stadler orders worth a combined €2.445bn to manufacture 211 140km/h trains for Cercanías commuter services operated across Spain.
Alstom will be responsible for the manufacture of 152 100m-long trains. Alstom’s contract is worth €1.447bn and it will manufacture the trains at its Santa Perpetua site. The contract with Alstom includes options to supply an extra 76 trains. The manufacturer will also maintain 56 trains for 15 years.
Stadler will manufacture 24 100-120m-long double-deck trains plus 35 160-240m-long double-deck sets under a contract worth €998m. The contract includes options for an additional 44 trains. The manufacturer will maintain 24 of the 100-120m-long and 10 of the 160-240m-long sets for 15 years. Stadler will manufacture the trains at its Valencia plant and it is the Swiss manufacturer's first order from Renfe.
Renfe is considering extending the maintenance contracts with the two suppliers for the new trains, which including the options, would potentially take the value of the entire contracts to €4.15bn.
The trains are expected to enter service from 2024 and the 100m-long sets will have at least 900 seats and offer 20% extra capacity compared with Civia trains (pictured), which make up part of the current fleet. Boarding and alighting will be speeded up through the installation of at least 10 doors and large vestibules. All trains will be equipped with Wi-Fi and have spaces dedicated for the transport of bicyles and pushchairs.
“This is a great news and enormous satisfaction for the Alstom teams who have been working for months to submit the best offer,” Alstom said in a statement to IRJ. “It is also a great news for all our industrial and technological facilities in Spain that will lead the project, starting with the Santa Perpetua site, in charge of the manufacturing of the trains.
“The new high-capacity trains for Spain, which rely on proven platforms, meet the major challenges faced by Renfe to increase passenger transport capacity in the suburban rail hubs, improve the quality of service for passengers and guarantee universal accessibility with an inclusive system.”
Spain’s Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has prioritised replacement of the Cercanías fleet, which is ageing and suffering from reliability issues. With no new trains entering the fleet since 2007, Renfe will replace 50% of these trains as well as rolling stock used for Medium distance services in order to reduce the average age of the fleet, much of which is now more than 30-years-old.
Renfe says it plans to award further contracts for the purchase of 43 hybrid Medium Distance and 38 Cercanías trains as well as the purchase of 40 power cars for high-speed rolling stock in the coming months. In total the contracts will be worth €3.5bn and are expected to create 52,000 jobs.
The order follows the award of a €258m contract in January to CAF to supply 37 1000mm-gauge trains.
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