Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Alfa train commuters go to “review the half-life” and gain new face – publico

                 

                         
                     
                         
                     

                 

 
 

In the absence of new trains, CP will invest in prolonging the life of the fleet already own. Alpha Commuting already have 16, but will be as new after suffering the so-called “review of the half-life” which will cost the company 18 million euros. The ten trains will be unrecognizable after each spend about three months in the Junction workshops. The red color will give way to white and gray and inside there will be new seats with leather upholstery, lighting systems with LED lamps and bar and fully refurbished bathrooms.

The project also includes an improvement of the conditions of access to a network wi-fi Internet, to mobile communication networks and all banks have taken individual electric. One of the biggest changes will be at the bar and in bathrooms where passengers will have a perception of wider space, thanks to the new design and the use of materials with finishes “natural”, which include composite cork.

Less noticeable to customers of CP will overhaul of traction engines and interventions in areas such as mechanics, pneumatics, electricity and electronics. After all is the engineering which is the basis of this review of the half-life of commuters, as it was absolutely necessary to dismantle all its components, replacement parts and prepare the train to continue driving for another 20 years.

Furthermore, the visible part of the passengers came by extension, for business reasons and because the CP has not – and has come to be – more long-distance trains in the coming years to respond to a demand that has been growing with customers increasingly demanding.

The revision work will take place in the workshops of EMEF (now the CP group) in Junction and should take about 60 workers for 30 months. But during that time the CP is under a train to meet the peak demand, usually on weekends, week in holiday periods, “bridges” and in the summer months. The alternative will be the use of machine trains and carriages, making up strengthening the Alfas Commuting with material from the Intercity. The situation will worsen, however, if any of commuters suffer some unforeseen and be also fixed in the workshop.

That’s why the CP considering renting high-speed trains to its counterpart Renfe. These are the S-120 trains, a fleet that Spain have underutilized and that is very much needed in the Portuguese track.

Asked about this intention, official source of CP says “chances are being studied and are not yet taken any decision. ” But PUBLIC know that CP is now awaiting the approval of the government – a shareholder – which has delivered a dossier explaining the need to increase the supply of long-haul, not just to address the lack of a pendulum for two and a half years, as to extend the frequency (more trains per line) and the service itself (more destinations).

Such trains are equipped with bi-energy, meaning that when the Spanish electrificarem line Salamanca to Vilar Formoso, S-120 may move without technical barriers between Portugal and Spain. Meanwhile, the management of Alfa Commuters will be done with tweezers, with a reduced scope for unforeseen events.

The pendulum (so called incline when cornering in order to avoid having to reduce speed) that should have been premiered at the time of Expo 98, eventually only reach Portugal in 1999 – were imported from Italy and assembled in the old Sorefame in Amadora. Since then, ten units have traveled 41 million kilometers.

Each composition has 301 seats and has a top speed of 200 kilometers per hour. Strictly speaking, they could go to 250 kilometers per hour, but there are no lines in Portugal to support such speeds. In fact, very few sections where the pendulum gives an air of grace and cast more than 200 an hour. Trains are fast, but the pace of modernization of the Portuguese lines is that it has been slow.


                     
                 

                     

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