The Italian public transport operator ATAC S.p.A. has awarded CAF the framework contract for the supply of the new tram fleet for the Rome metro system.
The contract, worth €130 million will see CAF design and manufacture 40 trams. It will also cover train maintenance for five years and any associated fleet spares. Alongside the construction of 40 trams, the contract also has an option to increase the number of units in the project by a further 81, taking the total to 121.
The contract, if all the options are used in it, could be worth up to €400 million to the Spanish rolling stock manufacturer.
ATAC S.p.A, plans to replace the old fleet currently operating on the system’s six lines with CAF’s Urbos tram platform. The Urbos is a popular tram across the continent with 1,000 of a similar specification in operation across 20 countries and 50 cities, including Oslo, Seville, Budapest and Edinburgh.
Rome metro currently runs with a mixture of CAF’s rolling stock including the MA 300 and MB400 models. Line C is currently one of the longest driverless metro lines in Europe and uses Hitachi Rail’s driverless technology.
The tram design will include 5 modules, and will be built in readiness for the upgrade of the OESS (On-Board Energy Storage Systems) which allows the units to operate on catenary-free sections, which it is hoped will reduce the visual impact on the roman landscape and in turn, improve the energy efficiency.
The OESS works by taking the kinetic energy from the tram braking and converts it into thermal energy. This energy is then fed back into the onboard storage system.
CAF have operated within the Rome capital region for twenty years, supplying over 70 metro units across the whole of the metro system. ATAC S.p.A confirmed that it will be leveraging European funding in order to purchase the trams.
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