Basque firm CAF awarded new Australian light rail vehicles delivery contract

“The Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) has been chosen to deliver the vehicles following a competitive local and international tender process,” minister Berejiklian said.

“We’ve listened to customer feedback to understand what people value about their journey on public transport and we are confident the vehicles provided by CAF will be world class, modern, safe and fully accessible.”

The new contract provides for six new and four leased vehicles, which will be progressively delivered from next year. In 2014 residents of the Inner West will have a new transport option into the city along a new 5.6 kilometre line extension from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill, the New South Wales transport department explained in a press release. It also said it would ensure that some of the light rail vehicles are ready for testing from 2013.

The Inner West Light Rail Extension will connect to the existing light rail service, which operates from Central to Lilyfield, and will run along the former Rozelle freight rail corridor, through the inner west to Dulwich Hill. Early project works are already underway, with major construction starting soon

In a separate tender, CAF has also been awarded a $1.8 million contract for the maintenance of new and existing light rail vehicles for an initial period of three years. Maintenance services represent up to 35 percent of CAF sales, and foreign clients make some 80 percent of the Basque company’s portfolio.

The Inner West Light Rail Extension is an important infrastructure project providing vital links between the inner west and CBD, Berejiklian said.