The Spanish company will participate in the construction of two new lines on Santiago’s metro network, providing service to a million passengers. Also participating in this project, which is one of the largest in the Andean country, is the company Idom.

CAF has been awarded a contract worth more than $450 million (€333 million) to supply Metro de Santiago with 185 new trains, equipped with air conditioning and driverless CBTC signaling. CAF will maintain the rolling stock on the new 3 and 6 lines for 20 years. The contract was awarded to a consortium that also includes Canada’s Thales.

Metro chose CAF’s offer because it allows the system to transport more passengers using less energy. Further, the consortium’s bid received the highest technical evaluation, which means that Santiago’s new metro lines will be among the most advanced in the world. CAF was chosen over Alstom, Hyundai-Ansaldo, Hitachi–Mitsubishi and Siemens in this public bidding contest.

For its part, Spain’s Idom received a contract worth €8 million to design the ten stations along line 6.

The contract includes the architectural design, structures and interior facilities for the stations, as well as all the above ground workrelated to their construction such as access areas and retail developments. Idom has already carried out several projects in Chile related with transportation infrastructure and hospital buildings.