Alstom begins production of Riyadh Metro trains
The first three trains will be delivered in 2017, French firm says
Alstom has begun the production of trains for the Riyadh Metro project, with work having commenced at its Katowice plant in Poland, the French firm announced.
Alstom’s Katowice plant will manufacture all 69 of the Riyadh Metro trainsets, as part of a €5.8 billion ($6.2bn) contract awarded to the FAST consortium for the design and construction of lines 4, 5 and 5 of the Riyadh Metro network,
The contract was awarded in 2013 by the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) to the consortium, which comprises FCC (the leader), Samsung, Alstom, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Strukton, Setec and Typsa.
The first three trainsets will be delivered to ADA in 2017, Alstom said in a statement.
The Katowice plant, which employs around 1,000 people, is one of Alstom’s largest train manufacturing sites in the world. Every step of the train’s production, including the final static and dynamic tests, is carried out there.
A full-size mock-up of the Riyadh Metro trainset manufactured by Alstom will soon be unveiled by ADA to residents of the Saudi capital.
Each of the driverless Riyadh Metro trainsets is 36m long. The trains are 100% motorised, allowing them to run on slopes with gradients up to 6%. Each train will feature three passenger classes – first, family and single.
In addition to the trainsets, Alstom will provide Urbalis, its communication based train control signalling solution, as well as the power supply and Alstom’s energy recovery system HESOP. All sub systems have been optimised together to reduce energy consumption.
The other Alstom sites involved in the project are located in France, Spain and Belgium.
