Alstom wins Rome high-speed contract

Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), Italy’s first private passenger railway company operating on the high-speed network, has signed a $9.7 million contract with Alstom for supply of a fleet of 25 AGV trains, with an option for an additional 10 trains.

The agreement with Alstom also covers ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of the fleet for the entire operating life of the trains (30 years), costs that are not included in the train supply contract.

Alstom’s AGV train, which NTV will be the first to use, is based on a completely new concept, being designed to travel at 186 mph and meet the European specifications of interoperability (STI 2006).

Benefits of the new railcars include: greater space available to passengers (+20 percent), eased accessibility (the floor is 3.9 inches lower than on conventionally designed trains) and marked eco-compatibility (a 15 percent reduction in energy consumption, 98 percent recyclable materials), as well as a 15 percent reduction in maintenance expenses.

NTV will start offering passenger services from 2011. It will be the world’s first operator to use the new AGV train.