Madrid Metro has awarded a contract to CAF for the supply of new units for the Madrid underground, with the company being awarded the second batch of vehicles as part of the operator’s plans to renew and expand its fleet of rolling stock.
The signed contract includes the design and manufacture of 40 narrow-gauge trains that are expected to operate on line 1, which connects the stations of Pinar de Chamartín and Valdecarros. This line was the first to be opened by the metro in 1919. The agreement also includes the development and implementation of a programme to optimise the life cycle of the fleet, considering, as with the first batch, the possibility of increasing the number of units to be supplied in the future. The volume of the operation is worth over EUR 400 million.
Each of the units supplied by CAF will consist of six cars, and will be designed with a continuous layout with connecting corridors between the cars along the entire unit, which will provide them with a large capacity for the transport of passengers. The trains will incorporate the latest technological advances in terms of safety, performance, comfort and maintainability, while guaranteeing maximum energy efficiency.
Second CAF contract for Madrid Metro
This is the second contract awarded this year by CAF with the Madrid operator, after the signing last June of the agreement for the supply of 40 wide-gauge trains. The acquisition of the new units will be financed with loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), and its main objective is to strengthen the quality of the service and increase the capacity of public transport in the capital.
The increase in passenger demand in recent years and the expectations of growth, together with the environmental policies implemented by the Community of Madrid, have motivated the acquisition of these new trains, which are more modern and energy efficient.
It should be noted that, as in the previous tender, the award process has been very demanding in terms of technical requirements, with great weight given to aspects such as energy consumption, LCC (total cost of the product throughout its life cycle) and the technical performance of the units, among which the possibility of being able to operate semi-automatically GoA2 stands out, being able to evolve throughout the project to an operation with a GoA3 degree of automation, without a driver in the cabin but with the supervision of an assistant on board the train.
CAF has a long-standing relationship with Metro de Madrid, having supplied the operator with a large number of units throughout the history of both companies. Today, the vast majority of the train fleet that runs on the capital’s suburban network has been supplied by CAF, having delivered more than 600 metro units for Madrid, belonging to the 2000, 3000, 5000, 6000, 8000 and 8400 series. Of all of these, the last ones delivered were the s/8400 units, between 2010 and 2011, and which are currently in service on line 6 of the network.
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