SPAIN: High speed open access operator ILSA has agreed a 30-year train maintenance contract with Hitachi Rail. The full service deal worth €737m runs from 2022, when ILSA plans to commence operations on the Madrid – Barcelona route, until 2052.
The company’s fleet of ETR1000 trainsets, the first of which was delivered to Spain in September from Hitachi’s Pistoia assembly plant in Italy, will be based at a depot and workshop complex in Madrid. The first set has in the meantime undergone running trials on the cross-border Figueras – Perpignan route.
ILSA signed a €797m ‘global agreement’ for up to 23 ETR1000 trainsets with Hitachi Rail and Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom) in August 2020, with a confirmed order for an initial 20.
ILSA said maintenance would include predictive and corrective activities ‘to guarantee the highest levels of reliability, safety and comfort for passengers’.
Chief Executive Officer of ILSA Simone Gorini said that ‘this maintenance agreement with Hitachi Rail is a living example of the lasting and valuable relationships that we want to establish with all our stakeholders. Spanish high speed will take a step forward in terms of innovation, sustainability and multimodality from the second half of 2022, when ILSA begins operations.’
Edoardo La Ficara, Executive Director of Hitachi Rail’s Operation Service & Maintenance Division, said ‘we are proud to provide the Spanish market not only with vehicles for high-speed lines, but also with service and maintenance activities. This contract is an important milestone for Hitachi Rail’s Operation Service & Maintenance division.’
ILSA is owned by Italian national operator Trenitalia (45%) and Air Nostrum (55%).
- In mid-October Simone Gorini replaced Fabrizio Favara as CEO of ILSA. Favara has returned to Italy to become Chief Corporate Strategy Officer of the Ferrovie dello Stato group, although he will continue as a board member of ILSA and will remain in charge of certain strategic projects. Gorini was formerly Trenitalia’s Director for the Lazio region.
