The time it takes to get on and off the wagons when the trains are full of passengers at rush hour extends the journey time of Cercanías and Rodalies trains more than expected. Speeding up this operation when arriving at the busiest stations was one of the main challenges posed by Renfe managers to the designers of the new 201 trains commissioned from Alstom.
The solution has been to put more doors on the trains. In total, each unit will have 12 doors, two in each wagon, with three entry and exit points more than the veteran cars of the 446 series that will be withdrawn in the renovation plan that Renfe plans to carry out in the coming years. .
The doors will be different depending on the place of the train, which will have a total capacity of just over 900 passengers, and could reach 1,800 if they circulate in double composition. In the center of each of the trains there will be two double-decker cars with greater capacity, but in those there will still be a step to go up and down. On the other hand, the two wagons at each end will have one floor and the doors will be at ground level, to streamline passenger flows, as well as facilitate access for people with reduced mobility and those who ride bikes or scooters (when the veto is lifted in Catalonia).
“We will gain time, efficiency and this will allow us to increase frequencies”, assured the president of Renfe, Raül Blanco, after visiting the Alstom plant in Santa Perpètua this Thursday together with the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sánchez, who defined the ongoing order as “a historic contract that turns around the years without investment from the previous government.”
The manufacturing process of the first new Cercanías and Rodalies models has already gone from the sketches to the industrial plant but it is still in a very initial phase. If the forecasts are met, next year the first units will already be manufactured and, after the corresponding tests in the railway network, the new trains will be put into circulation in 2025. From that moment on, four trains will leave Santa Ana every month. Perpètua to be progressively incorporated.
