CHILE: Metro de Santiago announced on November 25 that it had awarded a consortium of CAF and Thales a US$451·9m contract to supply rolling stock and CBTC signalling for lines 3 and 6. CAF will supply and maintain 115 cars for Line 3 and 70 for Line 6.
Metro de Santiago General Manager Ramón Cañas said that construction of lines 3 and 6 was 'the greatest challenge that we have undertaken as a company, not only because we are building them simultaneously, but also because we are adopting world-class best practice'. The winning bid from CAF and Thales 'fully meets the scale of this challenge', he added.
Lines 3 and 6 have been designed for driverless operation with steel-wheeled rolling stock, and the new fleet will feature air-conditioning, passenger information systems and onboard CCTV. Metro de Santiago highlights the improved energy efficiency of the new fleet, offering increased train capacity of 260 passengers per set while in terms of kW/passenger consuming 40% less energy than its latest air-conditioned rolling stock.
Metro de Santiago said it received five bids, its highest number ever for this type of tendering exercise. Also shortlisted were Alstom, the Rápido 63 consortium of Hyundai and Ansaldo, Hitachi/Mitsubishi and Siemens.
- An interview with Metro de Santiago CEO Roberto Bianchi appeared in the June 2012 issue of Metro Report International, which subscribers can access in the digital archive.
