City in Portugal gets Chinese-made trains

Four subway trains made by a Chinese company carried out a trial run in Porto, Portugal, on Monday, marking the first such test run by a Chinese-made subway train in a European Union country.

The trains are among a consignment of 18 that China has exported to the EU country, according to CRRC Tangshan Co, the train's manufacturer. Founded in 1881 and based in Tangshan, Hebei province, the company is one of China's largest makers of trains and subway vehicles.

According to the company, the trains ran without passengers on Line C of Porto Metro, in a mixed operation with existing passenger trains on the line.

Once fully operational, the new trains will pass through some of the busiest routes of the local subway network and the city's core area, as well as Porto's largest transfer station, Trindade Metro.

The routes include both underground and aboveground sections and different types of track, creating a complex working condition.

Before the test run, various preparatory tasks were carried out jointly by CRRC Tangshan Co and the Porto Metro company of Portugal. Preparations included the training of drivers and endurance tests for the train cars.

The agreement for the train project was signed in January 2020. In keeping with the contract, CRRC Tangshan Co has produced a total of 18 subway trains of four cars each for Porto. The Chinese company will provide maintenance service for five years.

The first train for the project arrived in Porto in December 2022.

In July this year, the subway trains successfully passed an independent safety assessment by a third party from Italy. This was the first independent safety assessment certificate obtained by Chinese subway vehicles in the EU.

The new subway trains have a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour and capacity for 244 passengers, with a seating capacity of 64, according to an earlier report by Xinhua News Agency. With the addition of the new cars, the Porto Metro fleet will increase to 120.