Currently, the 9 line of the Alicante TRAM line is made up of six diesel trains from the 2.500 series, which has more than 50 years in operation, because they are inherited from Feve when FGV is created. Manufactured between 1966 and 1973, they have been modified and reformed several times in aspects related to the motorization, exterior image, interior and air conditioning, but they have a high maintenance cost, lack of reliability, obsolescence of equipment by use, and are out of date with respect To current regulations.
From 2019 will be incorporated six new trains of dual diesel and electric propulsion for this line of the TRAM. Ferrocarrils of the Generalitat Valenciana (FGV) has awarded Stadler Rail Valencia and 43.320.000 euros the contract to manufacture the new trains.
The incorporation of these new vehicles is part of the process of modernization of this line that promotes the Ministry of Housing, Public Works and Vertebration of the Territory, and that has a joint budget that exceeds 100 million euros and will allow this line to be equated with the rest of the exploitation of the TRAM d'Alacant.
The new units will have a design and technical characteristics updated in accordance with the existing regulations and compatible with the use of security systems, control and communications of latest technology. The new trains guarantee greater reliability and safety, as well as comfort, accessibility or customer information, according to the standards that FGV provides in the rest of its lines.
Dual traction enables the trains to circulate, both in the part that is electrified, Alicante-Benidorm (Line 1), and the one that is not, Benidorm-Dénia (Line 9), with the advantage that, if in the Future would electrify the entire line, this new mobile material would still be effective.
The new material, due to its technical characteristics, allows to circulate in tram mode, which makes it possible to navigate very sensitive sections of the 9 Line, such as the announced entry to Denia. With the tramway mode, the possibilities of integration of the FGV infrastructures in urban environments increase, permeabilising the mobility of pedestrians and vehicles with the tramway platform.
With the incorporation of these units, FGV plans to adapt the platforms to the new material, matching them to the rest of the lines and providing for the period of coexistence of high and low floor trains.
