Alstom and its local joint venture Satee was awarded two contracts worth a total of approximately $102 million to supply new traction equipment for more than 550 railcars due to operate on Chengdu metro lines 3 and 4 and Xi’an metro line 3 for 2015.

Both cities are significantly expanding their existing metro networks. Chengdu — an important economic center in western China — will count 10 lines by 2020, and the historic city of Xi’an — located in central China — will consist of six metro lines by 2018.

Alstom and Satee will provide the metros of Chengdu and Xi’an with Optonix, the latest traction system technology developed by Alstom. Specifically designed and developed for the Chinese market, Optonix reduces travel time thanks to optimized acceleration and deceleration increasing train frequency.

The traction system, which includes motors and auxiliary converters, will be manufactured locally by Satee and supported by Alstom’s design unit in Charleroi, Belgium.