Liebherr supplies leveling actuators to CAF

Liebherr will supply 1,632 leveling actuators to CAF. The actuators are integrated in light rail vehicles for Boston´s Green Line and raise or lower a train at the station’s platform so that passengers can board and de-board without any barrier.

Korneuburg (Austria), November 2024 – Liebherr-Transportation Systems has once again been commissioned by the Spanish rail vehicle manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) to supply leveling actuators. The systems will be installed in 102 light rail vehicles and operated in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). Delivery to CAF is expected to take place from 2025 to 2029.

Liebherr's actuators enable precise adjustment of the vehicle’s entrance height to the level of the platform when entering the station. This means that passengers with reduced mobility or passengers with bicycles or strollers can board and de-board without barriers.

“We are very honored by the trust CAF has placed in us,” said Paul Hofbauer, Sales Manager Hydraulics at Liebherr-Transportation System GmbH & Co KG in Korneuburg (Austria). “We have already supplied actuators for level control to CAF in previous projects and are therefore particularly pleased to provide our solutions for an even more barrier-free mobility. Sensor-controlled electro hydraulics enable our level actuator to raise or lower a train at the platform by as much as 80 millimeters. Train operators in many North American regions are already using our leveling systems with excellent results.”

The collaboration between Liebherr-Transportation Systems and CAF began in 2013 with an order to supply actuators for the leveling systems for metropolitan trams in Houston, Texas (USA). Additional contracts followed for trams in the US-American cities of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kansas City, Missouri, and Boston, Massachusetts.

“It has always been a great pleasure for the entire Liebherr team, but especially for our colleagues at the Paris-Taverny site in France, to work with CAF,” said Eléonor Borrallo-Gautier, Director of the French Site of Liebherr-Transportation Systems GmbH & Co KG. “It is a great honor to be part of the various projects in the USA and to have such a trustful relationship with CAF for many years.”