PORTUGAL: CP has named a consortium of Alstom and local partner Domingos da Silva Teixeira as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 117 electric multiple-units in what the national operator says is the largest single rolling stock procurement in its history.
CP began market sounding in 2020 before funding was signed off by the government the following year. Six bids were received from Alstom/DST, CAF, CRRC Tangshan, Hitachi, Stadler and Siemens/Talgo. Best and final offers were then accepted from Alstom/DST, Stadler and CAF.
The contract is to be signed once the regulatory standstill period has been completed; Railway Gazette International understands that appeals from the losing bidders are regarded as unlikely.
The contract is worth €819m, of which €617m is coming from EU sources and the rest from the national budget. The procurement included a requirement from the bidders to offer local assembly or production, and Alstom has reiterated its intention to build a factory at Matosinhos north of Porto, creating 300 jobs. It will also build a dedicated depot at nearby Guifões to maintain the fleet.
Urban and regional fleets
The framework contract covers 62 EMUs to be deployed on suburban services around Porto and Lisboa and 55 for regional operations. The regional trains will be designed to run at a maximum speed of 160 km/h and the suburban units at 140 km/h.
All the trains will be equipped with GSM-R and ETCS onboard equipment, as well as with CP’s in-house NextStop passenger information system.
CP intends to use the EMUs to replace older rolling stock, some of which is around 50-70 years old, and to increase capacity and service frequency. It will also enable it to cease the leasing of Series 592 DMUs from RENFE which have been used since 2011 on routes in the north and west of the country which have been or are now being electrified.
A dedicated allocation of 34 suburban sets will be deployed on the isolated Cascais Line running west from Lisboa. Of these, 25 are to be dual-system to support the transition of the line’s electrification from 1·5 kV DC to 25 kV 50 Hz. A further 16 high-density EMUs are to be allocated to Lisboa’s Sado, Sintra and Azambuja commuter lines and 12 to routes around Porto.
The trains are expected to be delivered in 2026-29, and there is an option for CP to order a further 36 multiple-units for suburban services from 2026.
