PORTUGUESE Trains (CP) has begun tendering for the new fleet that will operate on the Lisbon - Porto high-speed line, setting a base price of €504m for the contract to supply 12 trains with an option for eight more.
The preferred bidder will also maintain the fleet for a period of two years following the delivery of the first train, and undertake the training of personnel to maintain the new trains after this period.
The deadline for submitting proposals is July 2, with qualified bidders to be announced 44 days later. The contract is due to be signed in the first quarter of 2027, with the first train to be delivered in the first quarter of 2031.
Deliveries will then continue at a rate of one train per month and are due to be completed in the third quarter of 2032. This will enable CP to operate high-speed services on the first section of the new Lisbon - Porto line, due to be completed in 2032.
Operating at up to 300km/h, the new fleet will enable CP to offer a Lisbon - Porto journey time of 1h 15min when the high-speed line is fully completed. Each train will seat over 500 passengers, and will be equipped with infotainment systems, Wi-Fi, USB-C sockets and onboard CCTV.
The new fleet will be 1668mm gauge to match new high-speed infrastructure in Portugal, but will be capable of operating on 1435mm gauge by replacing the wheelsets. National operator CP will be competing in a liberalised domestic passenger market, and according to CP president, Pedro Moreira, the company is developing plans for an integrated service network combing high-speed and conventional lines.
“We want a modern CP, capable of competing in the market, to provide an increasingly efficient, sustainable and high-quality public service,” says minister of infrastructure and housing, Miguel Pinto Luz.
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