The new Porto Metro vehicles, ordered from China’s CRRC Tangshan, will go into service from Wednesday, with Prime Minister Antonio Costa taking part in the first ride, the company said on Tuesday.
“This Wednesday, December 6, at 11 a.m., the first commercial flight of one of the 18 new Metro do Porto units will take place,” you can read in a note sent by Metro do Porto to the editor on Tuesday.
The same note states that the first route will run “between Trindade and Casa da Musica stations and will be visited by Prime Minister António Costa and Environment and Climate Minister Duarte Cordeiro.”
According to Metro do Porto, “of the batch of 18 trains that will expand the metro fleet from 102 to 120 units, 15 are already in Porto” and “the remaining three will arrive by the end of this year.”
The contract for the supply of 18 CT cars for the Porto metro was awarded to the Chinese company CRRC Tangshan, a total investment of 49.6 million euros, financed by POSEUR (Operational Program for Sustainable Development and Resource Efficiency) and the Environmental Fund.
The first commercial trip will take place almost a year after the arrival of the first car in Portugal, namely at the Metro do Porto workshops in Gifones, in Matosinhos.
On December 23, 2022, Metro do Porto announced that the first CT [CRRC Tram] arrived at Gifones “after a long journey, including a journey by land and sea from China to Matosinhos, passing through the port of Tarragona in Catalonia.”
The first forecast for the new vehicle to enter service was made in May after extensive testing, meaning the maiden voyage will take place seven months later than originally planned.
The new cars have a top speed of 80 km/h and can accommodate 244 passengers, of which 64 are seated.
The new CT cars have seven double doors on each side, which Metro says is a “great advance” compared to the six doors of the Eurotram (the first vehicle to arrive in Porto in May 2001) and the four doors of the tram. on each side of the tram (which has been running since 2010 on the Red and Green lines).
The new compositions “stand out for their contemporary design, dominated by the color grey”, and also highlight the “aerodynamic shapes” and the accessibility associated with the seven side doors.
In July 2022, CRRC Tangshan completed production of the first of 18 new trains commissioned by Metro do Porto, which have already undergone a testing period before arriving in Portugal.
The contract, signed with Metro do Porto in January 2020, includes maintenance services for five years, CRRC Tangshan said.
Founded in 1881, CRRC Tangshan is a Chinese company with a long tradition in the production of trains, high-speed trains and subway vehicles. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock, headquartered in Beijing, and employing more than 180,000 people.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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