CAF continues to reap success in Italy, in this case in Bologna and Rome
CAF continues to consolidate its foothold in Italy, securing two new agreements for the cities of Bologna and Rome. It has been awarded the Framework Contract for the supply and maintenance of trams for Bologna, and has also reached an agreement with the Rome operator ATAC S.p.A. to extend the tram contract that CAF is currently undertaking for the Italian capital.
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As a whole, these new awards are worth approximately €200 million.
This marks further success for the CAF Group in the Italian market, reaffirming its leading position in the field of sustainable urban transport. These contracts follow other major contracts that CAF recently secured in Italy, including the supply of trams for Palermo, metro units for Naples, and more than 360 hydrogen and electric buses contracted for cities including Venice, Cagliari, Milan, and Catania.
Trams for the City of Bolonia
The City of Bologna (Comune di Bologna) has awarded CAF the Framework Contract to supply up to 60 trams, which includes the maintenance of the units for 4 years, as well as the supply of spare parts and special tools for the fleet. Initially, a first contract will be entered into for the supply of 33 units for a value of more than EUR 130 million, which could then — with a maximum term of 6 years — be extended up to 60 trams as mentioned above, or as many as 72 trams (an additional 20% provided for by law), which would more than double the operation's amount if all the envisaged options are exercised.
The CAF-designed units pertain to the Urbos tramway platform, a model with more than 1,000 vehicles already in service in more than 20 countries on five continents. In this case, the tram will comprise 5 modules and will have a capacity for more than 200 passengers along its 35-metre length. It will also be fitted with the OESS (On Board Energy Storage Systems) system, which enables catenary-free unit operation, thereby reducing the visual impact and increasing service energy efficiency. This is a tried and tested technology developed by CAF for a significant number of projects, which has established the company as a leading on-board energy system company in the railway sector.
This contract is related to the project for the development of a new tramway network in the historic capital of the Emilia-Romagna region. The tram network will comprise four lines (red, yellow, green, and blue) and will be operated by the company TPB, owned by TPER (Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia Romagna), the same operator that awarded the CAF Group the contract to supply 127 hydrogen-powered Solaris buses last year.
This project, financed with funds from the European Union's Recovery and Resilience Facility, forms part of the Sustainable Urban Transport Plan currently being undertaken in the city; an ambitious plan that seeks to restore a city with less pollution to its citizens and visitors, with the possibility of traveling in a sustainable and safe manner through the creation of a single integrated metropolitan transport system, with the tram system serving as one of the mainstays of this new model of sustainable transport.
Extension of the Tram Contract for Rome
In addition, the Italian operator ATAC S.p.A., the company that manages public transport in the Rome metropolitan area, has made use of a first extension option provided for in the Framework Agreement for the tram supply project, which CAF was awarded at the end of last year. This Framework Agreement included a first contract covering the design and manufacture of an initial 40 trams, with the possibility of increasing the number of project units by a further 81 vehicles, making a total of 121.
Entering into this second contract, the Rome operator has decided to extend the supply with a first extension of 20 additional trams, which will also be fitted with OESS (On Board Energy Storage Systems), including their maintenance for 5 years. This decision is part of ATAC S.p.A.'s plans to replace the old units of the fleet currently in operation on the six existing lines of the network, as well as to acquire units that will operate on the new lines soon to be built in the Italian capital.
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