Alstom inaugurates new production site dedicated to railway electrification

Credit: Alstom

Alstom has inaugurated a new plant which will develop and manufacture power transmission components for railway, metro and tram lines in Valmadrera (Lecco, Italy). The inauguration was attended by Attilio Fontana, Lombardy Region President, Antonio Rusconi, mayor of Valmadrera, Gian Luca Erbacci, President Europe Alstom Group, Michele Viale, Managing Director of Alstom in Italia and President and CEO of Alstom Ferroviaria.

The new production site confirms Alstom’s leadership in the Italian and international railway infrastructure and electrification market, thanks to a hundred years of experience in electric traction systems.

Alstom has made an investment around €2 million in the plant including in new numerical control machinery, a quality laboratory testing machine and automatic storage systems. The Valmedrera site, Group’s centre of excellence for the design and construction of Catenary components, conductor rail and APS rail, is spread across 9800 square metres – 8,500 square metres building and 1,300 square metres warehouse facilities – which will enhance an efficient and sustainable production organisation. This new and modern plant will unify production as previously it was divided over two smaller sites in Pescate and Olginate.

Credit: Alstom

“This new plant will tell the story of the excellence that from Valmadrera reaches all over Italy, reaching many other metropolises beyond the borders,” Adolfo Urso, The Minister of Enterprise and Made for Italy, said. “Railway lines represent a flywheel to accelerate the ecological transition in Italy and Europe, in view of the net-zero goals to 2050, and the PNRR for the railway network alone allocates about 25 billion, proving that the sector must be supported and encourage the whole process of green transformation.”

“We are investing a lot to improve rail transport and mobility,” Attilio Fontana, Lombardy Region President, said. “We have plans for a large road infrastructure that is completely electrified and sustainable. We are implementing many projects that go in the direction that is required by Europe and that we believe can be an opportunity for development. A sustainability with judgment, which also respects the needs of production, economy and society.”

“Italy is among the most important countries in Europe, we are investing in the development of smart and sustainable mobility in Italy to help creating an integrated ecosystem of transport, improving the decarbonisation,” Gian Luca Erbacci, Alstom Group Europe President, said. “The new Valmadrera plant will be strategic for the whole Group as we are exporting 90% of the electrification equipment worldwide.”

Credit: Alstom

“This new site has a strong industrial relevance for Alstom in Italy,” Michele Viale, Managing Director of Alstom in Italy and President and CEO of Alstom Ferroviaria, said. “We are very confident about the development of this new investment in the Lecco area, which is the Group’s centre of excellence for the design and construction of catenary components, conductor rail (such as 3rd rail) and APS rail (trackside power supply). Unique products are exported all over the world and have contributed to the construction of some of the continent’s most important metro and tramway lines such as in Istanbul, Riyadh, Paris and London (Elizabeth line).”

In Lecco area, Alstom concentrates the production of electrification material that is then exported not only in Italy, but all over the world (Algeria, Dubai, France, Japan, Greece, Romania, Turkey, UK and many more). Furthermore, the production is used in the construction of the main railway, metro and tram lines in Europe and worldwide. Specifically, the new site in Valmadrera will oversee the production of Catenary cantilevers and related accessories for electrification of railway lines (Regional, High Speed, Metro), terminal blocks for substations and power distribution lines (Terna), rigid catenary for metro, third rail and APS (power supply from the ground) for metro or tramway lines, and finally power supply lines for overhead travelling cranes.