Portugal: Final assembly of the first coach is under way at CP’s maintenance centre in Guifões, while the bodies of the other two are taking shape at SERMEC’s plant in Maia.
The prototype should be complete by the end of the year, setting up a period of static and dynamic testing that could run for up to two more years. Built for locomotive haulage, the train is designed to work as a push-pull set, with one end coach fitted with a driving cab.
The finished train will comprise a 48-seat first-class coach and two second-class coaches seating 42 and 80. Both second-class coaches will offer bicycle space, and the smaller of the two will also house a bar. The rolling stock is expected to reach 200–220 km/h and is aimed at CP’s intercity network.
Future Portugal domestically-developed push-pull train. Source: Trainsolutions Portugal
The project behind it, TrainSolutions Portugal, has been rebuilding the country’s passenger rolling stock manufacturing base since 2022 through a 13-company consortium led by systems integrator SERMEC alongside national operator Comboios de Portugal (CP).
Local content on the prototype is set to reach 85%. Portuguese firm Nomad Tech is supplying the driving cab, converters, and the monitoring and braking systems, while O2a has designed the interior. Bogies and wheels remain the exception — they’re imported, since Portugal doesn’t manufacture them domestically.
Funding comes via a €56.3 mln grant under Portugal’s national Recovery and Resilience Plan, against total project costs of close to €70 mln. SERMEC’s Mário Duarte says the project could cut Portugal’s rolling stock import needs by as much as 75%, while also making it possible to adapt the push-pull system to CP’s existing fleet.
Portugal’s rolling stock ambitions don’t stop there: Alstom is separately building its own factory in the country, where it plans to assemble 81 Adessia Stream EMUs as part of a wider 153-trainset contract with CP.
