SPAIN: The first two of the 201 Coradia high-capacity commuter trains that Alstom is supplying to national operator RENFE are now being tested on the national network as part of the certification process. The milestone was confirmed to Railway Gazette International by an Alstom spokesperson at the RailLive! exhibition in Madrid on November 26.
The two middle cars of the six-car EMUs are double-deck. Alstom says this is because its experience shows that most passengers board at the middle of commuter trains.
The trainsets have a maximum speed of 140 km/h, and capacity for more than 900 passengers. They have 12 doors on each side and are fitted with an ETCS onboard unit.
RENFE awarded Alstom a contract in March 2021 to supply 152 EMUs for use on Cercanías services in Madrid and the Rodalies network in Barcelona and it then exercised an option in December 2022 for 49 more. This took the total value of the order to €1·8bn. This includes the supply of spare parts and maintenance of 56 of the trains for 15 years.
The 1 668 mm gauge EMUs are being manufactured at Alstom’s Santa Perpetua plant in Barcelona.
