Irish Railways has reached a 10-year framework agreement with Alstom for up to 750 new electric and battery electric vehicles, of which 325 will be transported to the Dublin area rapid transit network. The initial order for six five-vehicle EMUs and 13 five-vehicle BEMUs is 270 million euros, including a 15-year support service contract. The new train will be built in Katowice, Poland and will start operating in 2025.

The contract was signed at Inchicore Works in IE, Dublin on December 13th. It was signed by Alstom Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Irish Transport Minister Henri Poupart-Lafarge, National Transport Administration (NTA) Chief Executive Officer Mr. Earon Ryan, Ms. Anne Graham and IÉ signs CEO Jim Mead. The commissioning of the train will be carried out at Inchicore with the support of the British engineering team in Derby.

The fleet order is one of five independent but complementary projects in the Dart+ plan, which is funded by NTA under the National Development Plan 2021-2030. The preliminary business case for the Dart+ project was approved by the Irish government on December 7. The project will double the number of passengers per hour to 52,000 passengers and triple the length of the Dart network to 150 kilometers. The new 1600mm gauge 1.5kvdc train is 82m long and can accommodate 550 passengers. Pedestrian passages, low floors and automatic telescopic steps will be installed to provide barrier-free passages for all passengers. The new fleet will be equipped with dedicated bicycle and family areas, charging points for mobile phones, electric bicycles and electric scooters, and advanced closed-circuit television throughout the train. Alstom will provide its HealthHub and Train Scanner technologies to enable predictive maintenance of new trains. Keywords: engineering construction, engineering news

The battery life of BEMU is 80 kilometers. Energy will be supplemented by fast charging stations and regenerative braking at selected terminals. This will allow emissions reductions before the electrification of the entire Dart+ network is planned. "The new electric and battery-electric Xtrapolis fleet is a big step towards making railways more sustainable."Editor/XingWentao