CAF and Metro Madrid have concluded a contract for the supply of the first of two sets of trains that the Madrid operator is investing in to renew and expand its rolling stock fleet. The agreement, worth close to €400M, consists of the design and supply of 40 wide-gauge, single-voltage trains to operate on lines 6 and 8 of the metropolitan network. It also includes developing and implementing a programme to optimise the fleet's life cycle, with the future option to increase the number of train units supplied.
The goal of the city's metro network with this purchase, which will be financed with loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), is to improve the service quality and increase the capacity of the capital city's public transport system. The implementation of the Community of Madrid's environmental policies, combined with rising passenger demand and growth projections, have led to the purchase of these new, more energy-efficient trains.
Each of the units to be supplied by CAF will consist of six cars, four of which will be motor cars and the other two trailer cars. They will offer a large passenger capacity through their non-obstructed layout with gangway aisles between the cars running along the full length of the unit.
It should be noted that the tender was extremely exacting in terms of technical requirements, with factors such as energy consumption, LCC (total cost of the product during its life cycle) and the technical performance of the units, including the possibility of semi-automatic (GoA2) and fully automatic (GoA4) operation, being of particular importance.
It should also be pointed out that CAF has worked extensively with Metro Madrid throughout their long shared history. In fact, to date the vast majority of the fleet of trains running on the capital city's suburban network has been supplied by CAF. Specifically, it has designed and manufactured more than 600 metro units for Madrid, from the 2000, 3000, 5000, 6000, 8000 and 8400 series. Of these, series 8400 units were the last ones delivered in 2010 and 2011 and these are currently providing services on line 6.