CAF has signed a contract to supply 23 3-car electric multiple units (EMUs) to the city of Auckland in New Zealand.
The contract is worth over €130m and includes maintenance of the trains until the end of 2025, and an option for up to five additional units.
In 2011, CAF was awarded a contract by Auckland Transport to supply 57 electric units and to maintain them for 12 years. A further 15 units were purchased in 2017. All of these units are currently still in service in Auckland. The fleet has accumulated a total mileage of over 33 million kilometres and has played an essential role in the increase in passenger numbers using public transport across Auckland.
The new units will be similar to the 72 previously supplied. They each comprise three cars, two cabbed-end motor cars, and one intermediate trailer car, with a total capacity of 380 passengers.
The cars are constructed from stainless steel and have two passenger access doors on each side. The intermediate car has a low floor to facilitate access for persons with reduced mobility and wheelchair users.
Auckland's suburban network operates on 1,067 mm narrow gauge, which is the same as the rest of New Zealand's rail network. The network was electrified by 2014, replacing the previous DMU operation.
The new units are required to cope with the expected increase in passenger numbers following a service improvement. They will increase further when Auckland's Cross-City Rail Link (CRL) opens as a 3km tunnel route between Britomart and Mt Eden in late 2024. Following that, plans are in place to electrify the 15km section between Papakura and Pukehohe by 2025, as it is still served by diesel railcars on shuttle services.
This contract consolidates CAF's presence in the region. Besides previous contracts for Auckland Transport, the company has been awarded a significant number of projects in Australia, including the most recent ones of Parramatta Light Rail and Regional Rail Bi-Mode units in New South Wales.
Perhaps CAF could continue on manufacturing new Civity EMU trains to replace the Class 313 and Class 455 rolling stocks used on Southern suburban and “Coastway” services. And Civity DMU trains to replace the Class 171 Turbostars operating on the Uckfield and Marshlink lines.