New train factory in Matosinhos will be ready in 2 years

AND. statements to journalists at the end of the session of the launch of the first stone of the assembly plant, which was attended by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, with the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, and the president of CP, Pedro Moreira, both the head of Alstom Portugal, David Torres, and the president of the construction company STD, José Teixeira, advanced the values.

This is an investment of 28.6 million euros in the construction of the complex attached to the CP workshops – Comboios de Portugal in Guifonos (Matosinhos), which according to the Portuguese entrepreneur will be ready in two years – the deadline that STD wants to anticipate – and will have “500 workers at the peak” of the construction work of the 20,000 square meters complex.

When the assembly plant is completed, Alstom reports that about 300 direct jobs will be created and about 1,000 indirect jobs related to the factory’s activity, the first train is expected to leave the assembly line in 2029, followed by a pace of “three trains per month”.

“Alstom chose Portugal not only for the strategic position of the country, but also for the talent of professionals in Portugal, also for the stability of the institutions, also for the solidity that we have seen of the investment plans and, therefore, for the confidence to make long-term investments,” said David Torres in his intervention.

José Teixeira, during the ceremony, argued that his company’s thesis is that “not everything has to be in the hands of the State”.

“ Much of the responsibility for having innovative, cosmopolitan and cult companies fulfilling their social responsibility beyond what is regulated is in our hands,” he said, and ensured that STD is prepared “to carry out any railroad work, including TGV.”.

CP president Pedro Moreira pointed out that the new plant “symbolizes investment, trust and long-term vision in a sector that is essential for the sustainable mobility of the Portuguese and without which Portugal will never achieve the goals of reducing greenhouse gases with which it has committed itself”.

“ Trains will have three carriages with capacity for 450 passengers, stepsless accesses, Wi-Fi connectivity and wheelchair and bicycle spaces”, according to the Ministry of Infrastructure.

The Alstom factory in Matosinhos, to be built in the context of the purchase of 153 trains by CP, will manufacture 81 motor vehicles for the suburbans of Cascais, Lisbon and Porto, with the remaining 72 manufactured in Barcelona.

According to the addition to the contract signed between CP, the French multinational Alstom and the Portuguese STD, which increased the number of orders from 117 trains to 153 (more 36) and anticipated delivery deadlines, there will be an almost equal distribution of the units to be built.

With these changes, the value of the contract increased from EUR 746 million to EUR 1,064 million, distributed between 2025 and 2031.

CP is also receiving 22 drivers for the regional service commissioned by Stadler.

The government has already approved an expenditure of EUR 584 million for CP to purchase up to 20 high-speed trains to move on the country's future lines (Lisbon-Vigo and Lisbon-Madrid).