New EMUs For Renfe Cercanías

On 8 March 2021, following ratification at a meeting of Renfe's administrative council, the operator announced that it will order 211 high-capacity EMUs for Cercanías, the commuter rail systems of Spain's major metropolitan areas.

Renfe made its decision at the end of 2020. On 11 December it was announced that the two preferred bidders for a contract then valued at 2.73 billion EUR for 211 trains, the agreement to include spare parts and 15 years of maintenance, were Alstom and Stadler. Both Spanish manufacturers, CAF and Talgo, were out of the running in this final stage of the game, which began in March 2019 when Renfe invited tenders for the trains.

However, there was then a 45-day pause, while the Tribunal Administrativo Central de Recursos Contractuales (TACRC, Central Administrative Tribunal of Contractual Appeals) deliberated the situation, and it was then anticipated that there would be a final pronouncement in late February.

On 5 March 2021 came this announcement, which appeared to be definitive. For the first time in 13 years, Renfe is ordering a fleet of new 1,668 mm gauge Cercanías trains - the last order was for CAF-built Class 46x Civia EMUs (the final digit of the class indicates the number of cars in the formation, between two and five).

The new contract will be shared between Alstom and Stadler. The French manufacturer is to build 152 Type X’trapolis Coradia EMUs, while Stadler is to build 59 EMUs, combining the single-deck FLIRT cars (intermediate and end ones) and double-deck intermediate KISS cars.

The contract is now stated as being worth 2.445 billion EUR, though including spare parts and maintenance, this undertaken by the manufacturers in a 51/49 % consortium with Renfe Fabricación y Mantenimiento, it rises by 2.27 billion EUR, to a total of 4.715 billion. The maintenance periods are 15 years for Alstom and 34 years for Stadler.

The following basic parameters generally apply to both types of EMUs from the above mentioned manufacturers: 1,668 mm gauge, maximum speed 140 km/h, traction equipment for 3 kV DC, operation on slopes of up to 45 ‰, on-board ETCS and Spanish ASFA Digital ATPs, air conditioning, CCTV (and for the driver rear-view mirrors), WiFi and passenger counting system.

X'trapolis Coradia EMUs

Of the 211 trains, 176 will be 100 m long with a capacity of 900 passengers, 20 % more compared with the present Civia trains, and the remaining 35 new units will be 200 m long. In both cases it will be possible to increase their length through the insertion of additional intermediate cars. All 152 of the trains which Alstom is to build at its Santa Perpètua works will be 100 m long, and are valued at 1.447 billion EUR. 

The conception of the latter trains is result of two years of intense work by a team of over a hundred professionals from across Alstom’s many domains of expertise and parts of the world. The team was led and coordinated by engineering and industrialisation experts from Alstom’s Santa Perpètua site near Barcelona and the Madrid centres of excellence.

The X’trapolis Coradia EMUs, designated T100 (Tren 100), will be six-car, consisting of two double-deck cars in the middle of the train and two pairs of intermediate single-deck cars on either side, and will use Jakobs bogies, four of which will be powered. This creates another concept for Alstom double-deck EMUs, different from the Coradia Stream HC units for LNVG, where the double-deck cars are end cars and where Jakobs bogies are not used.

The installed power will be 2,125 kW, with starting acceleration of 0.96 m/s² up to 40 km/h and of 0.63 m/s² up to 100 km/h. The new Renfe’s X’trapolis Coradia trains will also be equipped with traction batteries to be able to run on short stretches of line without a catenary, in the length of up to 3.3 km at a speed of up to 5 km/h, which will be used mainly at the depots.

The capacity is to be 927 passengers, of which 250 are seated (including two places for wheelchairs) and 677 are standees. The interior width will be 2,925 mm in single-deck and 2,865 mm in double-deck cars. The internal height in the passenger compartments will be 2,281 mm in single-deck and max. of 1,900 mm in double-deck cars. In addition, it will be possible to form X’trapolis Coradia units in T80 (four-car) and T120 (seven-car) variants.

FLIRT/KISS EMUs

Stadler will build the remaining 24 100 m long units and all 35 of the 200 m long ones at the València works, its share of the contract being worth 998 million EUR. This is the first time that Renfe orders trains from Stadler, the contract is expected to be signed in coming weeks.

The basic concept of these FLIRT/KISS EMUs is that each car has two of its own bogies and that powered are always only single-deck (Bo’Bo’) cars, both either end or intermediate ones. The T100 variant will be four-car, consisting of single-deck end cars and two double-deck intermediate trailers, while the T200 variant will be eight-car, formed by single-deck end cars, two single-deck intermediate cars in the centre of the train and two pairs of double-deck intermediate trailers.

The installed traction power will be 3,600 kW for the T100 version and 7,200 kW for the T200 version. In both cases, the starting acceleration rate will be 0.83 m/s² up to 40 km/h and 0.75 m/s² up to 100 km/h. Thanks to the installed traction batteries, the trains will also be able to run on short stretches of line without a catenary up to a length of 10 km at a speed of up to 5 km/h.

The transport capacity of 100-meter sets is to be 927 passengers, of which 252 will be seated (including two places for wheelchairs) and 675 standing, and the total transport capacity of 200-meter sets will be 1,890 passengers. The internal width of the interior is 2,760 mm in single-deck and 2,850 mm in double-deck cars. The internal height in the passenger compartments will be 2,223 mm in single-deck and a max. of 1,900 mm in double-deck cars.

Units with a length of 100 m can be extended to a five-car T120 variant (total power of 3,600 kW) by incorporating another double-deck intermediate trailer, while for 200 m long trains it will be possible to create a shortened six-car T160 version with two single-deck and two double-deck intermediate cars (total power of 7,200 kW), or a ten-car T240 variant, in which two single-deck and six double-deck intermediate cars will be incorporated (total power again 7,200 kW).

Moreover, this is a framework contract, with an option. The latter is for 120 more trains, 96 100 m long and 24 200 m long, together with maintenance over the same period as that for those already on order. For Alstom the option is valued at 872 million EUR and 76 trains, and for Stadler 832 million EUR and 44 trains. If it is taken up the total value of the contract for trains (without a maintenance) will rise to 4.15 billion EUR.

All the trains will be PRM-compliant, with WiFi available, and with multi-purpose ares for wheelchairs, prams and bikes. Most of the new trains will be allocated to the Madrid and Barcelona Cercanías networks, replacing electric stock built in the late 1970s, 1980s and early to mid-1990s. The contract is still waiting for signing, the first trains are expected to enter service in 2024.