Odivelas, Portugal, Aug. 9, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for infrastructure on Friday accompanied the arrival of the first of 14 triple units (totalling 42 carriages) for the Metropolitano de Lisboa, considering that "a new era" is beginning with new equipment, two decades after the previous ones.
The first triple unit arrived today at the company's Material and Workshop Park in Pontinha (Odivelas municipality) from Spain on a lorry and was transferred to the shipyard where it will undergo tests before starting operations next year.
"There haven't been any new trains on the Metro for 22 years, and this one had an immense particularity [...], because it's the knowledge of decades and decades of the Lisbon Metro that has also made it possible to design these new trains. The train drivers helped design the cabins, and the entire Metro designed and helped improve these triple units. That's something to be proud of," said Miguel Pinto Luz.
The minister for infrastructure and housing, who is in charge of urban transport, emphasised that he has come across "accumulated knowledge and know-how" in all public companies and that there is "a lot of talent" the government is satisfied with.
Reaffirming that the new carriages "are completely different from the old ones", not least because there is a 22-year difference, Miguel Pinto Luz explained that the trains will have telemetry capacity, "important for monitoring what is happening in the carriages", as well as video surveillance.
They will also have better conditions for the drivers and are already "prepared for almost automatic driving".
"This is the start of a new era, as I wrote in the Metro's book of honour, and it's the start of a new era that makes everyone very happy. The Metro is preparing for that future. Lisbon will be better served and, above all, it's the modal shift [to encourage the use of public transport] that the government never tires of saying," he said, recalling that the previous government had already been taking measures in this direction.
To achieve the "ambitious carbon neutrality targets" that have been set, he added, this work needs to continue, and the Portuguese need to change their mode of transport daily.
The minister said that in September, during mobility week, more measures will be presented to "positively force modal shift".
According to Metropolitano de Lisboa, the 14 new triple units represent an investment of €72.7 million and are scheduled to enter service in January 2025.
The first triple unit travelled around 900 kilometres in three days, transported on three trucks from Valencia.
Each carriage of a triple unit weighs 30 tonnes and is 16 metres long, 2.80 metres wide, and 3.50 metres high. The new carriages feature large windows, door panels, and circulation areas with more free space, which will make it possible to get in and out of the carriages quickly.
According to the carrier's information, each triple unit has 90 seats, 30 of which are priority seats, identified in a different colour, and with space to attach two wheelchairs.
The doors of the triple units have no ramps or slopes to facilitate mobility, and the wheelchair space has been designed to point forward to ensure stability.
In addition to purchasing these 14 new units, at the end of 2023, Metropolitano launched another international public tender to purchase a further 24 new triple units (72 carriages) to reinforce the existing fleet because of the expansion of the network.
This investment includes the option to purchase 12 more triple units (36 carriages) at a base price of €138 million.
According to Metro, the option to acquire 12 more triple units "is related to the need to continuously replace rolling stock that is at the end of its life, thus seeking to ensure the conditions of flexibility and interoperability of the entire fleet".
RCP/ADB // ADB.
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