Bizkaia approves a €788.5 million modernization plan for Metro Bilbao

The Provincial Council of Bizkaia has approved a financial plan of 788.5 million euros for the modernisationof Metro Bilbao, which envisages the renewal of the railway fleet, the updating of the signalling system and the modernisation of the main command post in order to improve safety, energy efficiency and responsiveness to incidents.

The investment will be financed equally by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the Basque Government. The plan has been approved by the Foral institution and the Government has yet to approve the relevant procedure, as reported on Wednesday by the Foral spokeswoman, Leixuri Arrizabalaga.

The new trains will increase capacity by 12%.

One of the main activities of the project will be the renovation of the 37 oldest trains in Metro Bilbao, which will be replaced by new five-car trains, which will increase capacity by 12%.

The new trains will be aluminum and have wider doors, as well as reducing energy consumption by about 20% and reducing impact noise by between 15% and 20%.

New signalling system to improve safety

They will also modernise the signalling system by introducing new communications based rail control technology.

This system will make it possible to reduce the minimum distance between one train and the next, improve traffic safety and speed up the response to incidents.

The main command post will also be renewed.

It is also planned to modernise the main command post that manages the entire Metro Bilbao in real time by introducing a new operating software that will allow greater flexibility in the organisation of the service.

Among other things, they will be able to arrange partial routes and shuttle services to suit the needs of each moment.