Alstom
Alstom
SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates
worldwide in rail transport markets. The company and its name (originally
spelled Alsthom) was formed by a merger between the electric engineering
division of Société Alsacienne de Constructions Mécaniques (Als) and Compagnie
Française Thomson-Houston (thom) in 1928.
A
merger with parts of the British General Electric Company formed GEC Alsthom in
1989. Throughout the 1990s, the company expanded its holdings in the rail
sector, acquiring German rolling stock manufacturer Linke-Hofmann-Busch. In
1998, GEC Alsthom was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and, later that year,
it was rebranded Alstom.
In
an attempt to grow its rail business, in late-2017, Alstom announced a proposed
merger with Siemens Mobility. However, in February 2019, the European
Commission prohibited the merger. Subsequently, in February 2020, the company
signed a letter of agreement to purchase the transportation division of the
financially struggling Canadian Bombardier Inc. (also a business jet
manufacturer). The purchase was finalized in January 2021.
Alstom Coradia
The
Alstom Coradia is a family of diesel multiple units, electric multiple units,
and unpowered rail cars for local, intercity and regional service manufactured
by Alstom, with variants operating in Europe, North America, and Africa.
Alstom Coradia Stream
The
Coradia Stream is a modular vehicle platform for
low-floor electric multiple units. The aluminium-bodied cars are designed for
local, regional and intercity transport in the European market. Alstom offers
the multiple units consisting of three to ten cars with lengths ranging from 66
to 121 meters for the articulated trains (three to six cars, the latter not
shown in the pdf) and 110 to 202 meters for the semi-articulated trains (five
to ten cars).
The
length of a car with Jacobs bogies is limited to 18.3 meters,
while the middle car with regular (mostly motorised) bogies on one side is 21.4
meters long.
Each
side of the car is provided with one or two 1300 millimeter wide doors with
entry heights of 620 or 800 millimeters above the top of the rail. Alstom’s
Coradia Stream is designed and developed in Saint-Ouen (France) and Salzgitter
(Germany).
The
Nederlandse Spoorwegen was the first operator ordering the Coradia Stream in
July 2016, followed by Trenitalia a month later, and DSB Denmark in June 2021,
ARF Romania in March 2022, STA South Tyrol in Italy in April 2022 and
ÖBB Austria in June 2023.
Denmark
and Spain each use their own front end, while South Tyrol changed the design of
the headlamps in November 2022. In May 2019,
the first two regional Coradia Stream “Pop” trains, out of a total of 47 trains
destined for Emilia Romagna (Bologna), entered into passenger services.
In
2020 and 2021, Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM) and Alstom decided to develop a
hydrogen train with fuel cells (FCEMU or HMU). This will be a four-car
articulated train with a central passenger-transitable power car containing all the hydrogen power
generating technology: the fuel tanks and fuel cells.
In
September 2022 the Catalan FGC ordered wide gauge units for the new commuter
line that will connect the centre of Barcelona with the airport. The middle
cars are ca. 15 meters long.
Almost
1,000 single-deck Coradia Stream trains have already been ordered in several
European countries.
Production of the Dutch trains is in Poland,
testing also in Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, the aluminium comes from
China, the motors from France, the ECTS (European Train Control System) from
Belgium, the airco from Spain, the software from India, the braking system and
bogies from Germany, the bogie frames from Turkey, the cabin from Qatar.
Alstom Coradia Max
These
trains were developed as a partially double-decker variant of the Coradia
Stream and were therefore originally marketed as Coradia Stream HC (High
Capacity) before the name was changed to Coradia Max at the end of 2023. Alstom
offers the multiple units consisting of three to six cars with lengths ranging
from 80 to 159 meters. All cars are on their own bogies and the middle cars are
about 25 (single decker) and 27 meters (double decker) long.
CFL
Luxembourg was the first operator ordering the Coradia Stream HC in December
2018 which came in service in September 2024, with the same bold front end as
the Coradia in the Netherlands, Italy and Romania.
DB
regio ordered units for various regions each year from March 2021. Initially
the front design was similar to the one of the CFL trains,
but, possibly with an eye on the Danish order a month later, a more tidy nose was presented in October 2021,
while BWEGT Baden-Württemberg announced in March 2022 its own design. The vehicles will be the first
in Germany that make full use of the European clearance profile DE3, offering
more head and shoulder room on the upper floor.
More
than 500 Coradia Max have been ordered across Europe thus far in the last 6
years.
Alstom Coradia high-capacity commuter train
Spanish
RENFE ordered 201 wide gauge high-capacity commuter partially double-decker
trains in March 2021 and December 2022 for its metropolitan rail system
Cercanías (of which 101 for its Catalan counterpart Rodalies), using the same
front as those for the FGC Coradia Stream. The new trains are designed to run
in double configuration, so that during rush hour they are expected to have
capacities of up to 1,800 people. The entrance to the single-deck cars is at
platform level, while the entrance to the double-deck cars is above the bogies.
Due to the mountainous terrain, there are mainly curved tracks, resulting in
middle cars of ca. 15 metres long.
Production sites
The
production sites are both Chorzów near Katowice (Silesia, Poland) and
Salzgitter (Niedersachsen, Germany) for the northern trains, while the trains
for Italy and Austria are built in Savigliano (Cuneo, about 50 km south of
Turin). Alstom Barcelona builds the trains for Spain and Luxembourg. After
three EMUs produced at the Chorzów plant, Alstom is transferring the production
of the Coradia Stream for the Romanian ARF to Bautzen (Sachsen, Germany).
Drive
In
the Coradia Stream trainset, the end bogies of the
front and rear end cars are motorised, for which the equipment is located on
the roof. In addition, it is also possible to motorise the end bogies of the
middle cars. In the Coradia Max, the (end) bogies of the single-decker cars are
motorised.
Entrance
The
Coradia Max will be the first double-decker train in northern Germany where
passengers no longer have to climb steps when getting on and off.
In December 2022, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen
chose the Spanish CAF for their future DDNG
(double-decker new generation), with an entrance above the bogies,
creating a longer double (and single) deck space between the doors. Why worry
about climbing a step when passengers have to go up or down to get to their
seats anyway? The basic order of this Civity Duo consists of 30 four-car and 30
six-car trainsets, each with a powered single-deck car at both ends. The doors
on the single-deck cars are at platform level. NS is the first client to be
supplied with double-deck units of the Civity platform. The DDNG will succeed
on the DDZ
double-deckers with motor cars.
All of the above trains are equipped with a
modern traction system that allows for regenerative braking and requires more
visible space than the older systems such as in the DD-IRM/VIRM double-deckers. See also NS double-deckers.
Sources:
https://www.treinenweb.nl/materieel/ICNG/ns-intercity-nieuwe-generatie-icng.html http://transportrail.canalblog.com/archives/2018/12/20/36957323.html https://www.railway-technology.com/news/alstom-unveils-renfe-coradia-stream-design/?cf-view
https://www.transportfever.net/thread/17858-coradia-stream-for-ns-cfl-trenitalia-or-niedersachsen/
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3 December, 2024