Buenos Aires postpones opening date for rolling stock tender for Metro Line B

By Subterráneos de Buenos Aires

Subterráneos de Buenos Aires SE (SBASE) extended the international public tender for the purchase of 96 zero kilometer cars with air conditioning for Line B. The new formations will allow the replacement of the Mitsubishi fleet that is, on average, 60 years old, and offer better service to the 217 thousand passengers who use the line, on average, daily.

In this way, the most used line on the network, which connects Leandro N. Alem with Juan Manuel de Rosas, will have 100% of its cars with air conditioning (today it is at 46%).

The tender, approved through resolution No. 19/23, has a new bid opening date of March 26, 2024. The first training must be delivered 20 months after the signing of the initiation document with the company winner. The specifications and conditions can be accessed through the official website: https://buenosaires.gob.ar/licitaciones-publicas/2023.

The units, in addition to air conditioning, must be made of stainless steel or aluminum, have security cameras, a built-in user information system (visual and auditory), vandal-proof LED lighting, longitudinal seats and be prepared to operate with a system of Automatic Train Protection (ATP) type signals, with the possibility of expansion to CBTC with degree 2 of automation (GOA 2) -such as the one installed on Line H and which is being implemented on Line D-.

Likewise, they must have a railway gauge (3.10 meters) and a minimum of 17 meters long. The lounges must have four doors per side and the driving cabins must have one door per side and one communicating with the lounge.

Line B in numbers

• Average business day passengers: 221,177 (October).
• 17 stations and 11.8 km long.
• Combines with 4 lines: C, D, E and H.
• It currently has 2 fleets: Mitsubishi and CAF 6000.
• It has 2 own workshops: Rancagua and Villa Urquiza.
• Railway gauge: 3.10 meters.
• Six electrical substations.