In Maia, Porto district, Alstom, who is a global leader in sustainable mobility, has opened a new Engineering and Innovation centre.
The company is moving forward on its plans to provide a better service to its customers.
The site in Maia will aim to develop cutting edge solutions in the area of digital mobility and signalling. The mission will cover both the Portuguese markets and for Alstoms international project across the world.
The centre has ambition growth plans for the next few years with a total size of 460 m2 and a current team of 25 engineers and technicians.
Alongside this, Alstom will be collaborating with the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto to prepare for a Master Programme focusing on mobility. This will encourage the next generation to develop new technologies in the future.
The site has the capacity for storage and repair of components for current projects and clients through a warehouse on site.
Alstom has been in Portugal for over 30 years and currently two of three trains in circulation were manufactured by them.
Alstom's Convel ATP system manages more than 1500 km of the Portuguese rail network.
The Automatic Train Protection system that Alstom provides is also on board 18 trains that were recently acquired by the network.
During the inauguration, David Torres, Managing Director of Alstom Portugal, stated that “Alstom, based on the experience of its extensive portfolio, aims to boost the railway sector in Portugal, bringing its expertise in the development of sustainable mobility solutions. The company is strongly committed to the Portuguese market, actively contributing to the development of the industry and the local economy. This commitment is demonstrated by the inauguration of the new Engineering and Innovation centre in Maia, which will have advanced technical and logistical competences, also contributing to the creation of more quality jobs in Portugal”.
For his part, the Mayor of Maia, António da Silva Tiago, considered that “Maia is today an economic and social ecosystem that integrates in its territory a vibrant and dynamic business reality, particularly in the field of medium and medium-high technology companies, occupying, at this level, top places in terms of regional and national reckoning. I congratulate Alston for choosing Maia, and for adding more value to our ecosystem, through the installation of its engineering and innovation centre, in the Parish of Pedrouços – Maia.”
Representing the Portuguese Railway Platform, its Director Executivo Paulo Duarte, highlighted “the importance of creating a railway technical centre in Portugal, which provides a prompt and high-quality response to the needs and requests of railway operators in our market, contributing to a more sustainable and social responsible mobility.”
On behalf of the Centro de Competências Ferroviário, Prof. Andrade Ferreira highlighted the “important role of Alstom's new Innovation centre, as well as the collaboration between this company and the CCF, in order to explore new opportunities in terms of knowledge sharing, entrepreneurship, innovation and applied research, with positive effects on the national economy.”
