ARGENTINA: The Ministry of Transport has awarded Transmashholding a US$864m contract to supply and maintain 70 eight-car electric multiple-units for use in Buenos Aires.
The stainless steel bodied EMUs will be a 1 676 mm gauge variant of the 1 520 mm gauge Ivolga family which TMH produces for the Russian market at its factory in Tver, northwest of Moscow. Taking power at 25 kV 50 Hz, they will operate at a maximum speed of 120 km/h. Each eight-car set will be able to carry up to 2 000 passengers.
Deliveries are due to run for four years, starting 27 months after the contract comes into force.
The order is being supported by Russian financing. TMH said there would be 25% localisation in Argentina, including the production of components, final assembly, testing and commissioning. The company will invest in an industrial facility and create up to 1 500 direct and indirect jobs locally across the full value chain.
TMH has been present in Argentina since 2018. It currently employs 250 people across the country, maintaining and modernising rolling stock and offering spare parts and supply chain management services. It has already started localising component production by helping local suppliers to develop and encouraging international companies to do business in the country.
‘It is a great honour for TMH to be selected by Argentina’s transport authorities for this strategic national project’, said CEO Kirill Lipa when the order was announced on January 20. ‘We have the right competences to make this happen.’
Hans Schabert, President of TMH International, said ‘Argentina is a country of great opportunities and has an ambitious plan to modernise its railway system. TMH is willing to keep contributing to this process. We have a long-term commitment to the country and its people. With this EMU project, we’ll reinforce our local footprint, continue to transfer knowledge and technology, and further involve the Argentinean rail supply chain through strong alliances with local actors.’
