China-made metro trains put to test in Portugal

Chinese-made metro trains were tested in Porto, Portugal, on Monday, the first test of its kind in the European Union.

The trains are also the first to be exported from China into the EU, according to CRRC Tangshan Co, the trains' manufacturer. Based in Tangshan, Hebei province, the company is one of China's largest makers of trains and subway stock.

According to the company, its trains were tested on Line C of the Porto Metro, in a mixed operation with existing passenger trains on the line.

The test route went through the busiest areas of the metro network, as well as Porto's largest transfer station — Trindade Metro Station.

The route included both underground and aboveground sections and different types of track, making for complex working conditions.

Before the test run, preparatory work was carried out with the joint efforts of CRRC Tangshan Co and Porto Metro, including train coupling and debugging, driver training and endurance testing.

The project was signed in January 2020, and according to a related contract, CRRC Tangshan Co will produce 18 metro trains, each with four cars, for Porto Metro and provide five years of maintenance.

The first train arrived in Porto in December last year, with the rest having arrived subsequently.

In July, the trains passed an independent safety assessment by a third party from Italy, which was the first independent safety assessment certificate obtained by Chinese metro vehicles in the EU.

The new metro trains have a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour and capacity of 244 passengers, of which 64 are seated, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency in February.