photo: Comboios de Portugal (CP)/Portugal will buy the largest batch of electric trains
The Portuguese Council of Ministers approved an investment of € 819 million, which allows the national passenger operator Comboios de Portugal (CP) to announce a tender for the purchase of 117 electric trains, which are planned to be used throughout regional and suburban services. Of this amount, € 617 million should come as grants from the European Union.
The contract is scheduled to be awarded by the end of 2022. This will be CP's largest-ever purchase of rolling stock. New trains should arrive between 2026 and 2029.
The first 34 trains are slated to operate on the Lisbon-Cascais commuter line, which is being prepared for the transition from DC to AC. Another 16 trains are intended for connections with the stations of Sintra, Azambuja, and Sadu. In order to increase the carrying capacity by 20%, the rolling stock fleets serving Lisbon and Porto will be reinforced with 12 electric trains.
The remaining 55 trains will operate on regional routes, in addition to 22 electric and combined (electric and diesel) drive trains, which are due to be delivered under a contract signed with Stadler in October 2020. However, this contract has not yet been approved by the state audit body and Ministry of Finance, so Stadler has not yet started rolling stock production.
The Council of Ministers of the country also approved the creation of a railway scientific and practical center on the basis of the newly opened depot in Guifões, an area of the city of Matosinhos. The center, which is estimated at € 6.35 million, is being built by a consortium of Comboios de Portugal, the infrastructure operator of the Portuguese railways Infraestructuras de Portugal (IP), as well as the operators of the Lisbon Metro and Porto's light rail system - Metropolitano de Lisboa and Metro, do Porto.
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