Skip to main content

CAF-Thales consortium wins Chile metro contract

In a contract worth US$451.9 million, a consortium of CAF and Thales will supply Santiago’s metro operator with CAF trains controlled by Thales’ communication based train control (CBTC) system for lines 3 and 6 of the metro. The contract also includes a 20-year maintenance agreement. Thales will supply its fully automatic Seltrac CBTC solution, enabling the metro operator to increase the frequency of train services and passenger capacity. This is boosted by CAF’s new energy efficient rail cars, which of
December 13, 2013 Read time: 1 min
In a contract worth US$451.9 million, a consortium of CAF and 596 Thales will supply Santiago’s metro operator with CAF trains controlled by Thales’ communication based train control (CBTC) system for lines 3 and 6 of the metro.  The contract also includes a 20-year maintenance agreement.

Thales will supply its fully automatic Seltrac CBTC solution, enabling the metro operator to increase the frequency of train services and passenger capacity. This is boosted by CAF’s new energy efficient rail cars, which offer an increased capacity of 260 passengers per car.

The combined system will ultimately provide a passenger throughput capability of more than 50,000 passengers per hour each day.  This city, combined with Seltrac’s energy-saving mechanism, which provides coasting, synchronised traction and braking, deferred start and restricted runs helps to optimise operating costs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Brooklyn eyes Bogota’s BRT system
    June 17, 2016
    David Crawford considers the increased interest in bus rapid transit and looks that the latest trends. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is gaining an increasingly high profile in the US public transport agenda, for two main reasons. One is the potential for ‘trains on wheels’ to save substantially on installation costs as compared with other modes such as underground metros or light-rail transit. Another, highlighted in the case of New York City, is the value of having a rapid surface-based alternative available whe
  • Developments in smarter multi-modal fare paynment
    February 2, 2012
    This section pulls together all the multi-modal topics in each issue. Subject matter will include smartcards; ticketing and payment systems; passenger information systems; fleet management for buses, trains and light rail; park and ride systems; on-line access to real-time information via Internet portals
  • Tyne and Wear Metro opts for Kapsch digital radio network
    June 23, 2014
    Having expanded its activities to the public transport sector, Kapsch CarrierCom’s public transport business unit has been successful in winning a US$13 million contract to implement a digital radio network based on the TETRA standard for Nexus, the strategic public transport body in the UK’s north-east. Based in Newcastle, Nexus owns and manages the Tyne and Wear Metro, which is used annually by 37 million passengers. The new digital radio system will be installed on the Metro’s fleet of 90 trains, repl
  • Do buses need subsidies in congestion charging areas
    June 20, 2016
    David Crawford takes a look at the debate surrounding bus subsidies. Subsidies for public transport are a well-known and frequently-used policy tool directed at reducing the high environmental and social costs of peak-period traffic congestion. But at the end of last year the Swedish Centre for Transport Studies published a working paper entitled ‘Should buses still be subsidised in Stockholm?’ This concluded that the subsidy levels currently being applied in Stockholm could be nearly halved by setting bus