Northern Ireland’s Translink and CAF Rail UK agreed to extend the Class 3000 DMU fleet maintenance contract by 5 years. CAF Rail UK will continue rendering this service for a term of 15 years. The extension contract came into effect in April and has a value of EUR 60 million.
The maintenance work for the diesel trains will be performed in the workshops in Belfast City, more specifically, in the workshops at York Road and Adelaide, which are owned by the Translink.
The trains are fitted with the continuous automatic warning system (CAWS) which is used in Ireland. The system allows trains to be used for special cross-border support routes.
This Class 3000 DMU fleet to be maintained under the contract consists of the entire Northern Ireland rail network, with the main lines being those that connect Belfast to other cities such as Derry/Londonderry, Portadown and Bangor, amongst others.
The Class 3000 diesel train was commissioned in 2004 supporting an annually 10% increase of the number of Irish operator’s passengers. The fleet carries 16 million passengers per year, which represents an increase of almost 115% over 15 years.
CAF’s first project for Translink started in 2002 with the supply of 69 Class 3000 diesel cars which were commissioned for revenue service in 2004 with CAF performing their maintenance from the onset. In 2009, CAF concluded a new contract comprising the manufacture of a further 60 Class 4000 cars, and their maintenance for 15 years.
CAF is currently in the course of manufacturing an additional 56 intermediate cars. This option was provided under the contract signed in 2009 and was enforced by Translink in December 2018. The EUR 56 million order envisages the supply of 21 new intermediate train carriages. The are expected to enter services in 2022 after the completion of testing and commissioning period.
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