ITALY: The city of Napoli has awarded Hitachi a €200m contract to supply 22 trainsets for light metro Line 6, which is to be reopened along with a new extension.
The initial 2·3 km section of Line 6 from Mostra to Mergellina opened in February 2007, but services were suspended in December 2015. It is to reopen this summer, along with a 3·1 km extension from Mergellina to Municipio which was originally expected to come into use in 2012.
The service will initially be provided by the line’s existing fleet, which are 25 m long with a capacity of 200 passengers. There will be a gradual transition to the new trainsets, with the first six to be supplied in 2026 at a cost of €60m to meet Recovery & Resilience Facility funding deadlines.
The 750 V DC trainsets are to be produced at Hitachi Rail’s local plant in Napoli and at Pistoia. They will be 39 m long with capacity for 290 passengers, and they will be equipped with automatic train protection and an ‘innovative’ air-conditioning system designed to ensure comfort in all seasons.
Further deliveries will enable the trainsets to operate in pairs at 4½ min headways, providing a significant increase in capacity.
‘It is a fundamental step to enhance rail transport in the city with the latest generation trains that guarantee efficiency and safety to users’, said Mayor Gaetano Manfredi when the contract was announced on February 28. ‘The administration’s efforts continue to equip the city with an increasingly complex and technologically advanced transport system.’
