ITALY: Napoli regional transport operator EAV has awarded Stadler an eight-year framework agreement for the supply of up to 40 electric multiple-units for use the on the 950 mm gauge Circumvesuviana lines.
EAV aims to improve the travel experience by progressively replacing the oldest trainsets in the Circumvesuviana fleet with vehicles meeting the latest standards for reliability and safety. ‘Renewing the fleet will allow us, in the coming years, to respond adequately to the demand for mobility in a particularly significant area’, said EAV President Umberto De Gregorio.
There is a firm order for an initial 23 units, with full-service maintenance for five years after their commissioning.
The 1·5 kV DC three-car EMUs will be 40 m long, with lightweight aluminium bodyshells and five doors on each side. The interiors will be designed to optimise passenger flows, with wide corridors and space for passengers with reduced mobility.
Hitachi had originally been named preferred bidder for the contract in September 2019, but Stadler successfully appealed.
‘We are proud to have been appointed to deliver modern trains to operate urban and suburban services on one of the most characteristic and iconic networks in the Italian railway panorama’, said Stadler Valencia CEO Iñigo Parra on March 23.
