Gamuda JV brings wireless trams to Taiwan

PETALING JAYA: Gamuda Bhd has inked an agreement to procure up to 23 wireless trams for Taiwan’s New Taipei City in a deal potentially worth nearly RM1bil.

Manufactured by Spain’s Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF), the Urbos fleet will be deployed to the city’s Xidong and Keelung lines and will be among the rare few in the world to offer fully catenary-free modern tram operations.

In Taiwan, this will be the second catenary-free tram, following the first, also supplied by CAF, which debuted in Kaohsiung in 2015.

Catenary-free trams do away with the unsightly overhead power lines that are typically seen in tram systems elsewhere.

These modern trams have a capacitor (which functions like a rechargeable battery) that allows quick electricity top-ups every time the tram stops to pick up or drop passengers, thus doing away with the obstruction and visual clutter from overhead catenary lines that power trams and electric buses in other cities.

While there are other attempts elsewhere to go catenary-free, these involve embedding the power lines into the ground, such as the Dubai Tram, or partial catenary-free attempts that still need batteries with longer recharging times.

With the Urbos trams to be operated by the city’s Rapid Transit Systems Department, the Xidong line (an elevated 5.6km line from Xizhi to Donghu) project also includes the provision of spare parts, depot equipment, and a driver training simulator, said a post on CAF’s website last week.

According to CAF, which signed a framework agreement with Gamuda recently for the supply of the trams, “if all options within the agreement are exercised, the contract’s total value could approach €200mil (RM998mil)”.

Gamuda currently leads the project delivery team for the Xidong line through a joint venture with Taiwanese partners MiTAC Information Technology Corp (15%) and Dong Pi (10%), with the main works expected to be completed by 2032.

Last October, Gamuda announced that New Taipei City had awarded the consortium the design-and-build contract for the Xidong line worth RM4.3bil, covering the construction of six stations and a tram depot.

The technical partnership between Gamuda and CAF for the tram system procurement has been described as one which instills confidence when it comes to delivering mobility infrastructure.

“This award highlights the technological and industrial capabilities of CAF and the Malaysian construction group, demonstrating their ability to undertake highly demanding transport projects and consolidating their track record.

“It also reinforces the trust placed in them by the Taiwanese authorities based on their proven experience and proficiency in execution,” added CAF.

With a population approaching four million, New Taipei City is the largest municipality in Taiwan and the tram procurement is part of a broader infrastructure investment drive to address growing demand for rail-based transport.

Each Urbos tram for the Xidong and Keelung lines will be capable of accommodating up to 615 passengers, apart from being fully barrier-free to enable universal access.

Elsewhere, Gamuda’s involvement in Australian rail infrastructure in New South Wales saw good progress, with major milestones achieved in the first quarter of this year.

Two tunnel boring machines constructing the Sydney Metro West tunnels have broken into the Clyde Metro junction caverns, meaning that tunnelling progress for the 24km twin metro railway tunnels is way past the 80% mark.