The multinational Alstom expects to complete the first units of the ten shuttle trains that are to connect the center of Barcelona with the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport within three years, which would allow them to enter the testing phase.
The manufacturer is working on the order from Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGC), which will be the operator of the line, at its facilities in Santa Perpètua de la Mogoda. This is the public award of a contract valued at 177 million euros for the design, manufacture, supply, and maintenance for a period of 15 years of ten latest-generation convoys, from Alstom's Coradia family.
The company has reported that it will build a new workshop at the Santa Perpètua industrial center, covering 3,000 square meters, solely for this project, specifically for the preventive and corrective maintenance of this fleet during the concession period. The company has not provided any details about this area, beyond assuring that it will lead to the creation of new jobs that will be added to the expected staff increase.
Alstom has specified some details of the design of the new trains during a visit to the factory by the vice president and minister of Digital Policies and Territory, Jordi Puigneró, who recalled that the convoys will have a frequency of 15 minutes to connect the city with terminals T1 and T2 of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport.
For the line that is to connect Barcelona with the airport, passenger traffic close to 10 million users per year is expected, according to the railway operator's forecasts, but the works on the infrastructure are still underway.
Alstom's Coradia trains ---a model already in circulation in countries such as Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada--- consist of five single-deck cars, with capacity for 600 passengers and a maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour, and have been designed with numerous spaces for luggage and wider aisles, following the specific needs of the traveler.
The president of FGC, Marta Subirà, detailed that the new trains "will be developed following eco-design criteria and the maximum weight reduction will be sought to minimize their consumption" and that they will be built with materials with 96% recyclability.