ALSTOM has signed a €60m contract with Transport for Victoria (TfV), the Australian state’s public transport authority, to supply five additional six-car X’Trapolis EMUs for Melbourne’s suburban rail network.

The order will expand TfV’s fleet delivered from Alstom’s manufacturing facility in Ballarat, Victoria, since 2002 to 106.

The 145m-long trains, which have a capacity of 1238 passengers, feature enhanced accessibility and improved automated safety features.

“This contract will provide workload for the site between April and December 2019, while we continue to work with the state to secure the long term future of the Ballarat Workshops and the local supply chain,” says Mr Mark Coxon, managing director of Alstom in Australia and New Zealand.

In May, the Victoria state government allocated $A 103.5m ($US 76.7m) for the acquisition of the EMUs to meet increasing demand on the Melbourne suburban network and support higher frequencies.