Comboios de Portugal (CP), Portugal’s rail transport operator, announced it plans to upgrade the rolling stock fleet and that the related tender is in preparation.
The Portuguese operator wants to buy mainly diesel or electric locomotives to run across the national railway network.
Until now, Comboios de Portugal has leased 25 diesel locomotives from Renfe (the rail transport operator in the neighboring country, Spain) in order to be able to run a mixed diesel, electric locomotive fleet.
Both the government in Lisbon and the Portuguese railway operator want to facilitate the dual-mode train operation throughout the Iberian Peninsula network by 2019.
Currently, the Spanish railway network supplies a constant D.C. power supply system at 3,000 volts while the Portuguese network provides an A.C. power supply system of 25,000 volts. According to the Portuguese strategy, trains should be adapted to rail infrastructure rather than electrifying the entire railway network in the short term. Currently, Portugal’s rolling stock fleet has an outdated life span and 255 trains have already been decommissioned.
The Portuguese Minister for Development, Pedro Marques, called for “patience” to complete this difficult project, drafted only after a period of 20 years, marked by a lack of investment in new rail infrastructure and new railway equipment.
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