Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles

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Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN ES0121975009
founding 1917
Seat Beasain , SpainSpainSpain 
management Andrés Arizkorreta García
Number of employees 7795
sales 1.284 billion euros
Branch Rail vehicle construction
Website www.caf.net
Status: 2015

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles ( CAF ) is a Spanish manufacturer of rail vehicles based in Beasain in the Basque Country . The company was founded in 1917 and has existed in its current form since 1971. The manufacturer of subway cars, trams , regional, suburban and high-speed train units has also been active internationally since the 1990s. After the takeover of the Polish bus manufacturer Solaris Bus & Coach , buses and trolley buses have also been offered in the group of companies since 2019 .

history

Prehistory and foundation

The Fabrica de Hierros San Martín (Ironworks San Martín) is the oldest company that can be considered the forerunner of today's CAF . It was founded in 1860 by Domingo Goitia, Martín Usabiaga and José Francisco Arana. The company produced steel using the puddle method and operated a rolling mill .

Francisco Goitia, the son and heir of Domingo Goitia, founded the Gipuzkoa machine factory ( La Maquinista Gipuzkoa ) together with the Marqués de Urquijo in 1892 . By 1899 the company had built its Beasain production site in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa , where it also manufactured rolling stock for railways , among other things . The initial delivery of ten open freight cars at the gas station Madrid was taken in 1905 on the occasion, the name in Fabrica de Vagones Beasain ( wagon Beasain), short FVB to change. The good economic situation before and during the First World War made it possible to increase production, and over the years 16,000 freight cars, 370 passenger coaches and 24,000 wheels were produced.

In 1917 the Compañia Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles emerged from the Fabrica de Vagones Beasain , which is then known as CAF . At that time, the company employed 1,600 people and specialized in the construction of freight wagons.

Compañia Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) from 1917

Metro Bilbao metro trains from CAF

The good order book in connection with the reconstruction of the railroad after the end of the Spanish civil war made it possible to open a plant in Irun in 1940 .

In 1954, CAF acquired a majority stake in Material Movil y Construcciones ( MMC for short ) in Saragossa ( Aragon ), which specialized in the construction of underground trains and passenger coaches.

Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF) from 1971

In 1971 the two companies Compañia Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles and Material Movil y Construcciones were merged to form Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF). At the end of the 1980s, CAF modernized the production facilities and was subsequently also involved in the manufacture of the first high-speed trains for RENFE .

CAF has also been active internationally since the early 1990s . Prestigious orders for the delivery of express and suburban trains for connecting airports came from Hong Kong and London . In the following years, metro and suburban trains were also delivered to the USA, for example to Washington DC, Sacramento and Pittsburgh, as well as to Mexico City . In Europe, for example, the Brussels Metro ordered vehicles from CAF in 2004 .

In the early 2000s, CAF delivered high-speed trains to the Spanish company RENFE and in 2005, high-speed trains were exported for the first time to Turkey. Trains with diesel-electric propulsion are to be delivered to Saudi Arabia .

CAF is a stock corporation and is majority owned by institutional investors.

Acquisition of the Polish bus manufacturer Solaris

In 2018, CAF announced that it would take over the Polish bus manufacturer Solaris . The inspection by the Polish competition authority was positive. The complete takeover was completed on September 4, 2018.

Products

Wheelsets

A special technical feature in the CAF's range are lane-changing bogies that are approved for speeds of up to 250 km / h and with which 275 km / h have already been achieved in test operation on the standard gauge . In the system called Brava , two idler gears are on a rigid axle and are mechanically fixed in the loaded state. When slowly passing through a gauge change system, side rails take over the weight of the train and the wheels can be moved - practically hanging in the air. Although the system is similar to the Talgo system , it requires a different infrastructure than the Talgo system.

CAF manufactures wheel disks and wheel sets itself.

Locomotives

CAF was involved in the project of the Renfe 252 series, which is related to the Siemens Eurosprinter and was partly built by CAF under license. The latest product in the field of locomotives is the six - axle twin-power locomotive with the name Bitrac and diesel locomotives for passenger trains in Saudi Arabia .

High-speed trains

The CAF high-speed trains of the 120 and 121 series for the Spanish RENFE are equipped with bogies that allow rapid lane changes between standard and Iberian broad gauge . The re-trackable units reach speeds of 250 km / h with a contact line voltage of 25 kV and 220 km / h with 3 kV. The trains are mainly used as train types Alvia , Alaris and Avant in high-speed regional traffic. On routes such as Madrid - Bilbao , both the regular-gauge high-speed network and the existing Iberian broad-gauge network are used.

The multiple units of the HT65000 series were delivered to the Turkish state railway Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Devlet Demiryolları (TCDD), they are a non-traceable variant of the units for the Renfe. The trains run on the Ankara – İstanbul high-speed line , they reach a top speed of 250 km / h.

In May 2010, CAF presented the concept of the Oaris high-speed train with a speed of over 300 km / h to the public. Thanks to a traceable drive in Spain, it can use both the new standard-gauge lines and the existing broad-gauge lines. A train should consist of four, six or eight cars and be up to 400 meters long in double traction.

Long-distance transport

CAF builds the latest generation of passenger coaches for Amtrak in the USA , but also coaches for locomotive-hauled push- pull trains that are used in Saudi Arabia .

Regional traffic

For Spanish regional traffic, CAF delivered both diesel-electric and electric multiple units to RENFE and regional companies. The most modern products designed for speeds of up to 160 km / h are the TDMD (Tren Diésel de Media Distancia, Renfe series 599 ) and the TEMD (Tren Eléctrico de Media Distancia, Renfe series 449). Both types are prepared for a changeover to standard gauge, the 449 series also for operation with 25 kV and a speed of 200 km / h.

As early as the late 1990s, CAF was delivering trains to Great Britain, such as the British Class 332 for the Heathrow Express ; Class 333 trains followed in 2000/01 . Starting in 2014, CAF supplied eight ATR 365 multiple units with active tilting technology for operation in Sardinia for the Italian state railway Ferrovie dello Stato .

In December 2011, the DB announced that CAF was one of the three suppliers from which new electric multiple units for regional traffic will be purchased in the period up to 2018. In addition to CAF, Alstom Transport and Stadler Rail were among the selected manufacturers. Nine electric trains from CAF, which belong to DB Regio, will be used on the Schönbuchbahn from 2021 .

Civity

A newly developed multiple unit design in low-floor technology for standard gauge is offered under the name Civity , which can be ordered with different drives, power systems and train compositions. The Friuli-Venezia Giulia region was the first customer for this type of train to order eight five-part compositions that were to be used from 2013. [outdated]

In 2016 CAF received an extensive order from Great Britain for cavity UK trains with diesel-electric drive ( BR Class 195 ) and fully electric drive ( BR Class 331 ), which will replace obsolete Pacer railcars on routes in the north of England . Most of them were manufactured at CAF in Spain, but the orders led to the construction of a factory in Newport / Wales. Since 2018, Civity UK trains have been built there for other rail operators, including 77 BR Class 197 trains for Transport for Wales .

In 2014, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen placed an order for 118 Civity trains . They went into operation as Sprinter Nieuwe Generatie (SNG) from November 2018 . Also in 2018 the NS placed a follow-up order for a further 88 trains; the delivery of Template: future / in 3 yearsthese extends until 2023. In 2019, CAF received an order from Australia for the delivery of trains for regional and intercity traffic. They are scheduled to go into operation in 2023.

Tram vehicles

CAF offers its Urbos product family on the market for tram railcars . The latest series of the family, Urbos 3, is equipped with the Acumulador de Carga Rápida (ACR, German for "rapid charging battery") system, which enables vehicles to travel short distances without overhead lines using supercapacitors .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Board of Directors
  2. ↑ a b Annual Report 2015 (English)
  3. ↑ a b c website of CAF History section under Society . Accessed July 24, 2008.
  4. ↑ railway-technology.com Lantau Line and Airport Railway, Hong Kong, China
  5. ↑ El Diario Vasco edition October 20, 2005
  6. ↑ CAF wins Saudi passenger train order. In: Railway Gazette International . July 4, 2008, accessed May 17, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Spain's CAF takes over bus manufacturer Solaris. In: electrive.net. July 4, 2018, accessed September 5, 2018 .
  8. ↑ DECYZJA nr DKK - 140/2018. (PDF) In: uokik.gov.pl. Retrieved September 6, 2018 (Polish).
  9. ↑ Solaris sprzedany! CAF kupił 100 proc. akcji, ale 35 proc. trafi do PFR! In: transport-publiczny.pl. September 5, 2018, Retrieved September 5, 2018 (Polish).
  10. ↑ BRAVA, chassis with variable wheelbase - CAF. Retrieved December 25, 2017 .
  11. ^ Push-pull train Saudi Railways Organization. Retrieved December 25, 2017 .
  12. ^ CAF unveils Oaris high speed train concept Report of the Railway Gazette International dated May 27, 2010
  13. ^ El Diario Vasco edition April 8, 2006
  14. ↑ DB awards framework contract for new electric multiple units in regional traffic to Alstom, CAF and Stadler. In: Bahnonline.de. December 5, 2011, accessed October 16, 2018 .
  15. ^ Raimund Weible: Schönbuchbahn . Schwäbisches Tagblatt, November 27, 2019, accessed on June 20, 2020
  16. ↑ Civity ... description ( Memento of July 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) CAF website (English)
  17. ↑ Firmato accordo tra la Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia e la Caf by otto treni Civity ( Memento of 7 March 2012 at the Internet Archive ) report on contract signing. CityRailways.it, March 31, 2011 (Italian)
  18. ^ Rüdiger Lüders: Great Britain: Prince Charles opens CAF factory in Wales. In: Locomotive Report. February 22, 2020, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  19. ↑ CAF. On Track for Tomorrow's Railway. In: This is Wales. This is trade and investment. Welsh Government, September 30, 2019, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  20. ^ CAF closes deal to supply 77 locally made trains for Wales and Borders. In: -Rail Technology Magazine. June 8, 2018, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  21. ^ Steven Oskam: First revenue service with NS 'new CAF Sprinter EMUs. In: Railcolor News. Railcolor-Ziemon, Berlin, November 13, 2018, accessed on June 20, 2020 (English).
  22. ↑ Dutch railways order another 88 Sprinter EMUs from CAF. In: Railcolor News. December 27, 2018, accessed June 20, 2020 .
  23. ↑ Konstantin Planinski: 29 CAF Civity DMUs for New South Wales in Australia. In: Railcolor News. Railcolor-Ziemon, Berlin, February 14, 2019, accessed on June 20, 2020 (English).


Coordinates: 43 ° 2 ′ 45 "  N , 2 ° 11 ′ 22.2"  W.