Bucharest Welcomes Alstom's Pioneering Train Maintenance and Testing Facility

Alstom has announced the completion of a new maintenance facility in Bucharest, Romania.

Alstom Grivita Depot is Romania’s first established depot dedicated to the maintenance and testing of electric trains and locomotives. Currently, the first EMU from the order of 37 units for the Authority for Railway Reform (ARF) is stationed at the new depot, undergoing mandatory testing given market certification.

Alstom is actively recruiting for the new maintenance center, with approximately 50 employees expected to join the project and undergo specialized training.

“This new depot underscores Alstom’s enduring commitment to the Romanian market and marks a significant milestone as we celebrate our 30th anniversary in the country this year. Along with maintenance operations, Alstom Grivita Depot is also dedicated to testing, validation, and fine-tuning operations, to ensure that the new rolling stock reaches the performances required by the contracts,” says Gabriel Stanciu, Alstom Managing Director for Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova.

“This is the first modern depot to be built in Romania in the last 30 years. The new maintenance facility will be equipped with the latest generation technology, matching, or even surpassing the most advanced depots in the world, including a digital control room for fleet management,” says Roberto Saccione, Alstom Services Managing Director for Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova.

The six-car train Coradia Stream for ARF is continuing the very complex program of mandatory testing – static and dynamic – following TSI regulations (Technical Specifications for Interoperability) set at the European level and the National Notified Technical Rules (NNTR), before being able to circulate with passengers. All the functionalities and performances of the new type of train are to be confirmed through hundreds of verification tests, ranging from electrical and electronic systems to braking and propulsion systems, railway dynamics for train stability, all aspects of passenger comfort, and many more. Following the completion of these verification tests, an additional 60 final certification tests are necessary to validate train compliance and secure authorization for passenger operations to commence.

To optimize the process, Alstom is using three similar trains simultaneously, dividing key phases of the testing procedure. The final stage before passenger operation involves endurance tests: covering 10,000 km on commercial lines, without passengers, subject to line availability.

Source: Alstom Press Releases