News

Sources at Basque firm Bombardier Transportation , a subsidiary of Canadian group Bombardier, announced that BT was to build the motorization systems for 150 E464 locomotives for Italian railway company Trenitalia at its Trapaga factory just outside Bilbao.

The announcement follows Bombardier''s recent 368-million-euro contract with Trenitalia to supply 150 of its highly successful E464 electric locomotives. Some 350 E464s are already in operation in Italy.

Although locomotive assembly will actually be performed at Bombardier''s Italian production centre in Vado Ligure, the Trapaga factory has been entrusted with supplying the motorization systems for the 150 units. The E464 has a top speed of 160 kph.
This latest contract takes orders for Bombardier''s E464 locomotive to a total of 538 in Italy alone. Company sources described the performance of the 350 already in service there as "highly satisfactory."

Besides other motorization and control equipment, the 250-strong workforce at Bombardier''s Trapaga factory make converters for Spain''s AVE high velocity train heads. At present the Bombardier group generates turnover of around 340 million dollars a year in Spain.

Activity in the Basque region''s railway-related industry is very much on the up at present, with heavy workloads coming in from major new developments in high velocity lines, the new regional trains and the burgeoning metropolitan railways.

Other major Basque firms producing rolling stock and elements for the railway industry include CAF, in Beasain, and Talgo, in Rivabellosa, directly involved, like Bombardier, in different HVT-related projects. A number of smaller firms, such as JEZ, in Llodio, make line and track materials.

Source:&' || 'nbsp; euskadi.net